


Life Changes Quickly

by Daerwyn



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Incest, Phil Bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-22 12:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daerwyn/pseuds/Daerwyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bella, coming home from Phoenix for the first time in years, is escaping from a dark past. The imprint on her is a yet another life choice taken from her, and she is hesitant to accept it, but learns that grinning and bearing it will only help her in the long run. With the pack's protection, her dark past won't catch up to her. She just needs to stay away from Phil Dwyer, her step-dad.</p><p>EDITED</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leaving

She had spent nearly a year in the solitude and safety of Forks, Washington before she decided to move back in with her mother and step-father. It wasn't that she decided, really, but that it had been decided for her. Edward had hurt her deeply, more deeply than anyone in her past had, and it was because of this that she was welcome to the idea of going right back into things as though nothing had ever happened.

As though she hadn't had a boyfriend. That was what Phil had whispered to her as he gave the obligatory fatherly hug when they flew to Washington to pick her up. She had been too emotionally drained at that point to be truly grateful for that fact. And yet, when they settled back into Jacksonville, Florida, she almost wished he had punished her for having a boyfriend. It would have made her hate Edward easier. It was customary for an ex-girlfriend to hate her ex-boyfriend, right? And she wanted to, but she wanted nothing more than Edward to rescue her from the hell she was in.

From Phil.

But Edward wasn't going to come for her, Alice was ignoring the visions of Bella she had to have been having - Alice saw everything, afterall, and so Bella had to resort to... to desperate measures.

College. She didn't care where. She didn't care if it was a good school or a horrible school. But it was an excuse to get away. An excuse that Phil couldn't oppose, no matter how much he wanted to. Because her mother wouldn't like it if he opposed.

"You're sure that going back there is the right thing?" Renee questioned for the tenth time during the car ride. Bella glanced at her mother, and her step-father who had offered to sit in the backseat. He wasn't happy with the decision, either.

"Seattle has a great school for English. English is basically bred in Seattle." Not entirely. In fact, Seattle was pretty much just Starbucks and coffee shops. And with those came books, right? Bella wasn't sure, but it was her argument. She didn't even intend to go to Seattle. She was going to a Community College in Port Angeles until she could transfer.

And by then she'd be free... Free to do whatever she wanted, to get away from him.

Free to move on from Edward. She had to. It wasn't healthy, she knew that. And if her psychology class she took online was any indication, she needed to get some fresh air. To get over it all.

"If you start to feel depressed, or sad, or anything...  _anything_ , Bella, just call and we'll buy a flight to bring you right back home, won't we, Phil?"

"And we'll make sure you aren't back to Zombiella." Right. Phil's reassurance did little to persuade her to stay. It made her want to leave more.

"Besides, I miss everyone," Bella continued. "And now that dad's dating Sue, I won't have to do all the cooking anymore." The cooking didn't bother her. She loved cooking, but the more excuses of why Forks was better, the better. She gave them both a bright smile. "Dad's really excited, and I've hardly met Sue, so I'd like to learn about who is potentially joining our big ol' happy family." But perhaps she was laying it on a little thick.

Phil noticed it immediately. "Be sure to come back for holidays. Your mom and I will miss you."

Bella's smile faltered just slightly, but she nodded. "I'll be sure to. Christmas and Easter and summer breaks. Charlie's already planned a big fishing trip for fall break." And thankfully, Renee couldn't seem to remember that Bella hated fishing.

"Oh, well, that's alright. Christmas is only a few months away, anyway," Renee insisted. And when they pulled into the airport, Renee hugged Bella tightly. "You have everything, right? Your bags and all of your carry-on-"

"Charlie said he got all of my boxes in the mail," Bella promised. "I'm sure it's all there." But she held her mother tightly too, as if making sure she was okay. And while Renee's own crushing grip was a bit painful, Bella knew that Renee was just going to cry harder than she had when Bella had first gotten in the car. "I love you, and you can call me if you need anything." Renee just nodded into Bella, before she stepped away. And then it was Phil hugging her.

She tried her best not to stiffen, doing what she could to hug him back, but his hand just seemed to know where her rib was bruised and his touch grazed it, causing her to flinch. "Don't have too much fun."

"I don't plan to. Just for school and then I'll be back," Bella said in a voice she hoped was a strong promise.

"You better be."

Bella just nodded and Phil released her. Her mother tearfully hugged her again, but Bella was grateful to see that her plane was boarding in a half hour. She needed to go.

"Call me," Bella said before she grabbed her bag quickly and headed towards the security crossing. And as soon as Phil and Renee were out of view, it was like the Eye of Gondor had been vanquished - just for a little while. She gave the woman a forced smile as she passed through security. Three months. She'd find an excuse by then. She was sure of it.

Maybe a broken leg. Or the broke college kid card. Something would come up. She hoped so. Something had to.


	2. Home

Forks was... not exactly what she'd call home, but it was certainly a lot better than what she did. But home, for now, would do. Her taxi pulled into the old blue house Charlie had lived in for as long as Bella could remember. She had been told her bedroom had been redone - with Sue's touch, so that it wasn't the gaudy purple it had been since her childhood. And Sue had unpacked some of her clothes whenever she had the chance.

She had told them she was staying for good. She had yet to figure out a way to tell Renee and Phil that. She didn't really want to tell them that, but she had to - eventually. But most definitely not now.

She paid the driver, giving him a quick thank you, before she grabbed her bag out of the trunk and moved towards the door of the house. On her ring of keys, she still had a house key, and she made sure to open the door quietly. She wasn't sure if Charlie was sleeping - it was almost midnight afterall, but she was careful just in case. She set her bag down, and let out a sigh. Safe. She was safe here.

She set her keys on the hook, it all so familiar to her that it was like she had just returned from a day at the reservation, not months away in Florida.

She heard a throat clearing and she jumped, just as the lights turned on. The first people she saw were Jake and Charlie, and then Sue and Leah and Seth, and a few others. Bella smiled, surprised to see all of them, and laughed. "Trying to kill me so soon?" she teased, but she approached them all, giving them a hug. She had met Leah and Seth before she left, and had kept in contact with them, quickly becoming friends. Leah and her were like the sisters that neither of them had.

Bella wasn't sure how it happened, but it had.

They had helped each other get over their rough break-ups with their ex's. Sam with Leah, and Edward with Bella. And while it had taken time, both girls agreed that their ex's were ... for lack of a better word, unimportant. Though, Sam was nice. Bella had met him a few times, when she first found out about the pack, but they hadn't ever really talked to one another. And Leah had explained that they had broken up because of wolf problems - Sam could possibly hurt her. And though Bella understood that happened awhile ago, and Sam had better control now, Leah and Sam were just friends. They had agreed to be just friends. It was for the best.

And Edward. Well... Edward was a jerk, and someone she knew she shouldn't pine for anymore. He wasn't coming back. And it wouldn't be good if he did. She wasn't healthy when she was with them. And, perhaps it was the pack's influence, but they were leeches.

"How are you, loca?" Jake asked, swinging her up into a tight hug. And while it definitely hurt, she kept the smile on her face. Only Leah seemed to notice.

"Great, but if you don't put me down, you will see what I had for dinner." He agreed almost immediately, and she found solid ground.

"So," Bella said slowly, glancing between them all. "Is Sue living here or is it safe to sleep here at night?"

Charlie flushed brilliantly, but Sue laughed quietly. "It's safe," Sue promised her. Though Bella was sure she wouldn't have minded either way. Charlie deserved to be happy after the near two decades he spent alone.

"How was your flight?" Charlie asked.

"Great," Bella admitted. "And the flight to Port Angeles was a bit rainy, but it was a good reminder of what happens every single day here." She shrugged. "It's good to be back."

"You've got a nice tan," Jake commented.

"Renee wanted me to become a true Floridian," Bella shrugged yet again, glancing down at the slight tan on her arms. She still was incredibly pale. "I don't look like a vampire anymore, at least?"

There were a few awkward laughs amongst the pack members, and Charlie just snorted in amusement. Obviously the joke rubbed them a bit the wrong way. "Definitely no vampire," Jake agreed, but she felt like it was a promise more than anything. That there were no signs of the damage Edward had done to her. It was good news, at least. Or maybe there was no sign of Victoria - also good news.

"You're probably exhausted. After your long flight and layover-" Charlie began.

"Well now I'm all riled up with this party you've got going on," Bella giggled. "But yeah, a bit exhausted." She threw her arms around Leah and Seth's necks, having to stand on her tippy toes so that she wasn't dragging them as far down. They were still ridiculously tall. Even Seth, who was at least four years yunger than her. "So, are we busting out the booze? Passing them under the table so the cop doesn't notice?"

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Absolutely not. I've raised you better than that."

"Don't worry, I've got a six pack in the car," Jake laughed.

"You better not," Charlie warned.

"It's Bella's favorite soda." Sure it was. But Bella just rolled her eyes and bit her lip as attention turned back to her. "Hey, Chief, since it's been so long... and it's kinda late, we could have a sleep over. You know, you and Sue can go on your merry way upstairs, and us attractive folk could whisper about you behind your back in Bella's room."

"Hey," Bella quipped. "Charlie's a stud."

"And that's also my mother you're talking about," Seth returned.

Jake held up his hands, as if pleading for their forgiveness. "Sorry, all us attractive folk then."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but as long as I don't have to deal with Seth and Jake hogging my bed-"

"Agreed," Sue said immediately. "Come on, Charlie, I'm sure Bella won't mind?"

Bella just grinned. "Have fun."

Charlie flushed again. Oh Goodness, he was definitely where she got her blush from. As soon as they disappeared up the stairs, Bella unwound her arms from her near step-siblings and glanced between them all. "But really, how is everything?"

"Sam's still the busy Alpha, Paul's still an ass, and Victoria's long gone. Haven't seen her in months."

Bella chewed on her lip, and nodded. "That's good, then, right? Maybe she's gone for good?"

Jake snorted. "Doubt it, loca." She did too. But it was still a nice thought. "I've got patrols in an hour and a half, so I'm going to head back to the res, but you two have fun doing whatever it is you guys are going to do." Bella hugged him tightly, before he left, and he made her promise to stop by the next day, which she agreed. And then Leah and Seth headed up to her room, where Bella and Leah took the bed, making Seth sleep on the floor. And things, for now, were good.

* * *

Heading to the res, she dropped Sue off at her home, Seth calling shotgun for the passenger seat of Bella's beloved truck. Her ancient truck. But it still functioned, which was all that mattered. And then she followed Seth's instructions on how to get to Sam's house. It was a bit of a drive, and one she didn't remember too well, but soon the familiar little house tucked away in a forest of trees was familiar.

It was such a homey feeling being there that she stared at it a moment. "Is everyone in there?"

"Pretty much. Kim and Leah have made it the pack headquarters for meals and stuff. Kim takes lunch, Leah takes dinner. It's mostly stuff from mom's diner, but they don't care as long as it's hot." He shot her a wink and got out of the truck, giving a human-sounding howl towards the house, as if notifying them of her arrival.

Bella rolled her eyes, opened the door of the truck and getting out just as Leah hopped out of the bed of the truck. "So, how are you guys?" Bella asked quietly as they moved towards the house, still a good twenty yards away.

"Never better," Leah admitted honestly. Yet, Bella had a feeling that Sam still bothered her. She just never would say anything different when Bella asked. Just that they were friends, and they had reached an understanding.

When she walked in, there was the scent of something amazing cooking and she immediately spotted Kim and Jared in the kitchen, her giving him instructions. When Bella walked in, Kim glanced up, giving her a smile, and Jared gave her a small wave. She wasn't close to them, not really, but Bella had a feeling that would change the more she got to know them all.

It was the shirtless men there were gathered at various points in the house, some in the living room, others around the dining room table, that took her attention, though. They all looked, well, relatively happy to see her. If she excluded Paul, then they definitely all did.

"Leech lover," Paul greeted civilly. She laughed and went to him first, and was surprised when he offered her a hug. She gave it to him, and when she pulled away, she held her nose as if he smelled horribly.

"Ugh, wet dog." She rubbed at her shirt. "Ugh, and it's all over me, too. Damn it, Paul-" He growled and she giggled just before Quil and Embry both nearly tackled her.

"Hells Bells!" they cried. "I didn't know you were here yet."

Bella shrugged. "Got it around midnight. And my taxi driver was spawn from hell, so I didn't even know if I'd make it to see everyone." Of course, that wasn't true, but they laughed anyway. She met the twins, for the first time, recently phased, and she was given yet another bear hug by Jake, who had been lounging on the couch, as if he owned the place.

"I've given it some thought," Bella admitted. "And I don't think I've missed you the most. Are you still a bottomless pit?"

He winced. "Maybe?"

"Yeah, definitely didn't miss you at all," Bella said as seriously as possible. "Maybe the least."

"So, Swan, what brings you here? Got some more leeches in your suitcase?" Paul asked suddenly, from his side of the room. Bella turned, raising an eyebrow.

"You wish," she snorted. "Nope, I'm back for good. Taking some classes this fall, and going to Seattle in the spring. Going to get all settled here and maybe live danger free this time."

"Danger free?" Jake snorted. "You can't even walk down stairs."

"Well, I'll be living with Charlie, but I have a feeling I'll be down here more often than I am in Port Angeles or in town." She shrugged, doing her best to ignore Jake's remark. "So, hope you aren't going to get sick of seeing a pale face around."

Paul grumbled, but Leah kicked his leg. He snarled at her.

"You're moving here for good?" Jared asked in surprise.

"Well, I'm hoping to," Bella admitted. "If everything works out."

"We definitely need to celebrate this," Quil insisted. "Cliff diving?"

Bella felt a smile lit up her face. "Absolutely."

"The seas are a bit rough," Jared stated. "A storm is expected this weekend. But we can definitely have a bonfire Wednesday and cliff dive then. It should be calm enough."

"Wednesday sounds great," Bella admitted. "I need a few days to unpack anyway." Bella paused, glancing around again, confused. "Isn't it weird that you're in Sam's house, but Sam isn't here?"

There were a few laughs, and she was sure more than one person glanced at each other, as if in on something. What? Did she miss something? But before she was sure they had, the look was gone. "Sam's on patrols. What's his is ours," Embry admitted, stretching out on his chair and leaning it back, balancing on two of the legs. "Long as we don't burn it down or anything."

Bella still thought it was weird they were at his house while he was away. "Isn't the what's mine is yours thing reserved for marriage?"

Jake winked at her, settling back down on the couch and pulling her down over his legs. "What do you think this pack is? We're like brother husbands."

"With Sam?" Bella asked, fighting her laugh.

"With everyone. Even dickhead Paul-"

"Hey!" Paul snapped. "Like I'd ever marry you!"

Bella giggled. "Well, I think we'll go with brothers is the term your looking for. Really, really hungry and needy brothers," Bella ammended, smiling as she looked towards the rest of the pack. "That know how to share way too well for their age."

"What's that supposed to mean, Swan?" Paul spit out.

"Well, while you're at age two, everyone else is a ripe four." Paul growled and Bella glanced sweetly to Jake. "Except for you. You're probably like six."

"And Sam?" Jake asked. Bella thought about it, leaning back on the couch and staring off over Colin's head.

"Well, since he's sort of like the single dad in all this, I'd say late twenties, early thirties. He might even go gray soon if Paul doesn't outgrow his terrible two tantrums."

Jake laughed. "I'll be sure to pass the message along." Bella just rolled her eyes. "So how old are you?"

Bella hesitated. "Well, I do cook for you - or I did. And since I'm putting Kim up there at about twenty, I guess I'll probably be around there. Though the experience with the vamps easily adds a few years. Because I'm so bad-ass and all." Paul snorted, as if he thought exactly the opposite. "Maybe twenty-five."

"What about Sue and Billy?"

"Once someone is older than thirty, you never divulge their age," Bella quipped. "So, they'll just be thirty."

"I feel like I'm much older than four," Quil stated. "I mean, sure, my imprint's four, but that's not the same thing."

Bella considered that as well. "I suppose if you've imprinted, you can get bumped up a few years. You've probably crossed the stage of cooties are gross."

Quil laughed. And as Jake's arm went around Bella's waist, she settled there, listening to them banter with each other over what should count as a few years, and what should take away age. And it was like her and Jake's age wars all over again, only this one was infinitely more entertaining. And listening to them argue while Kim just put grilled cheese sandwiches on the table, rolling her eyes before carrying two smaller plates with two sandwiches each over to Bella, was hilarious for the two human girls. Jake had long since ran off to claim as many grilled cheeses as he could, and Kim and Bella watched.

It was like she hadn't left. It was ... home.


	3. Cliffs

Mrs. Newton, the co-owner of Newton's Outfitters, was happy to see Bella again and even more happy when Bella asked to reapply. She had the job within three seconds and Bella believed part of the problem was that Mike was leaving for college. Which, on the bright side, meant no annoying co-workers following her around.

And that night, to celebrate, they had a sleepover at Leah's house, making popcorn and brownies, most of which Leah ate, and played a few movies. Leah was out before the first one was even halfway through. It was something Bella had learned from Jake. The wolves slept - and they slept hard. It probably had to do with the fact that they ran nonstop during their patrols at super speeds.

So Bella sat on Leah's bed as the wolf sprawled out, taking up most of it, and quietly ate the buttery remnants of her popcorn, watching the ending of the Notebook.

The next day was bonfire and cliff dive day, but they still had a good amount of time until that started.

"You do have a swimsuit, right?" Leah asked. And Bella paused. She hadn't bought a swimsuit in over three or so years, and that was before her body had grown a bit as she developed a bit more in high school. "Alright, get yourself presentable, we're going to Port Angeles."

"Leah, don't you have patrols-"

"Sam gave me the day off," Leah shrugged. So, Bella, grugingly got ready, telling herself that the only reason they needed to go shopping was to buy things that Bella needed. It wasn't to shop for fun. And it wasn't forced, really. She needed to go. She just hated shopping, moreso now than she did nearly a year ago.

When they reached a women's department store in Port Angeles, Leah hesitated before she got out of the car. "Does Charlie know yet?" Bella winced, shaking her head.

"No... I can't. I don't think Charlie will understand."

Leah frowned herself, and met Bella's eyes, but Bella glanced away after a minute. "If he kicks you out, you know that you're more than welcome to stay with me... right?" Bella nodded. Leah had told her that many times while she was still in Florida, on the phone. When Bella had first found out. And it had helped in her decision to move back to Forks - Leah had also made a strong case. Though, Bella wasn't really complaining about that. She saw nothing wrong with Forks. Not even the memories she wanted gone. "Charlie will do everything he can to support you. He's a good dad. And sure, he's probably been sleeping with my mom, but... he's not a dick."

No, Charlie wasn't. Charlie was selfless, caring, passionate - though, Bella knew it was mostly for fishing, and now Sue. And she knew he wouldn't react... well, negatively. He would just be upset. And she didn't want to make him upset, either. "Can we just... not talk about it, right now?" Bella asked quietly. "We're going to have fun tonight, and I'd rather not think about it."

"You do have to tell him eventually. He'll notice," Leah said for the closing. Bella knew. It wasn't something that you could hide.

It wasn't until the ride home, a few more clothing items than either had intended to buy smushed in the trunk of Leah's car, that Leah mentioned the topic they had originally bonded over. "I'm over Sam for good." And the way she said it, strong and confident, made Bella even doubt that she was still hung up on the man. "Honestly." And she glanced towards Bella slightly, as if to convince her more. "He can date whoever wants, even if it's my best friend."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "You've never been this sure before."

"Because I've been thinking about it, these last few days, and... why would I want anything more than friends? Honestly? We haven't imprinted, and we aren't going to imprint. And why would I want a relationship when I knew that we weren't supposed to be together. Becase what if, down the road, one of us does imprint? I don't want to be heartbroken twice. And, I mean, also hearing his thoughts twenty-four seven on patrols is a bit of a turn off."

Bella laughed quietly. "What does he do? Think about how much Paul annoys him?"

"Well, that's a big majority, but there are just so many things he's thinking about. Patrol schedules, pack safety, res safety, even a few pale face's safety. And he's constantly either patrolling, working, or something and I just wouldn't be able to insert myself in that, you know?" Bella didn't know, but she just nodded, glancing back out towards the road. "And I want Sam to be happy. Even if it's not with me. We're friends, and that's all I want. I'm not pining after him, I'm not bitching about him. So, even if he dates my best friend, I will still be happy for him, and for them." Bella glanced at her, again, confused. Leah rolled her eyes. "The imprint gods would have put us together, Bella. But they didn't. And I've realized that."

"But Sam hasn't imprinted on anyone," Bella said slowly. "What if he just looks at you one day and he imprints?"

"We already made eye contact. It was right before we broke up. Trust me, we're not imprinted on each other. We both know it." Leah turned into Forks. "Though, he is still nice to look at, don't you think?"

Bella flushed almost immediately. "Well, of course he is. They're all attractive. And shirtless. And practically gods." Leah laughed, but agreed. Bella shrugged after a moment of thought. "He's also the leader. So he has to be a tad hotter than the rest of them, you know? Assert his dominance."

Leah giggled. "Definitely." They drove in silence for another mile. "You seem to be paying attention to him."

"I'm making a simple observance. Besides, he sort of saved me from freezing to death in the woods last fall." Leah winced, either because she remembered hearing about it or she had seen it in Sam's mind. "I payed attention to him when I first found out about the pack, too. Savior gratitude and all that."

"Uh huh... Don't worry, I'll tell Sam that too."

Bella's eyes widened. "What?" She glanced to Leah. "Leah, please, don't you dare." Leah just grinned. "You're cruel."

"Oh, please. I'm only kidding." It only took two more minutes to pull into La Push, and they stopped at Leah's unloading the bags they had, and when they walked in, Bella was surprised to see Sam and Jake at the kitchen table, as if they were in a deep discussion. As soon as they saw Bella, though, they immediately stopped, making her raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Hey," Bella greeted. "We're back. Nice to see you, Sam."

"Nice to see you, too, Bella" Sam said with a brief smile. Leah walked past Bella, throwing her bags down on the table. "Uh, buy anything good?"

"Needed a new swimsuit," Bella shrugged. "And Leah convinced me to buy a few more things."

"A new swimsuit?" Jake grinned. "Let's see."

"One that won't potentially fall off in the water," Bella admitted. But she snatched the bag away from Jake's groping hands. "Unless, of course," she continued as Jake pouted. "It could be a two piece."

Sam shifted slightly, glancing between the two friends. And Bella rolled her eyes as Jake glanced towards the bag again. "You're a total minx, Bella."

"And you're a perv," Leah snapped. "Why don't you two make yourselves useful and grab the beer and things out of the back of my car? Mom's got to make food for the bonfire tonight and you're only making sure you don't get a full stomach."

Jake was immediately on his feet, moving towards the front of the house. Sam was a bit slower, and he gave Bella another smile. "Glad you're back, Bella. See you later, Leah."

"Thanks," Bella returned before he left. She glanced towards Leah, who was rolling her eyes, and Bella felt like her face was a few degrees too hot. "Okay, what?"

"Nothing," Leah insisted.

"Okay, well now it's definitely something," Bella returned. "You only get that look when you're smug about something."

Leah shrugged. "I just feel very happy."

Bella blinked. "You're going to be food poisoned."

"Worth it," Leah grinned. Bella groaned, going through her shopping bags and passing a few things of Leah's that had been bagged in there, to the woman. When the boys came back, it seemed to be a competition of who could carry the most stuff. Jake, who she assumed to be the one to start it, wasn't carrying as much as Sam, but Jake did have the heavier things.

"Boys," Bella muttered, taking a few soda cases from Jake and setting them on the counter before helping Sam with a few bags. Leah began putting them away and by the time they were releaved of their grocery burdens, Sam was glaring at Jake. "Sorry we had to have you do peasant labor, almighty Alpha," Bella quipped, patting Sam's arm as she passed to help Leah. "Maybe next time, Jake won't be a whimp and will instead make a few trips."

"Hey, I'm the rightful Alpha," Jake insisted.

"But you aren't Alpha," Bella returned. "Sam is." When she glanced back to them, Sam had a look of amusement while Jake was pouting. "Jake, you're like... the spare."

That got Sam to laugh. And Bella gave Jake a mirror of Leah's smug look, and grabbed a few cans, putting them on the counter. There was no use putting them away if they were going to be used for cooking in a few hours, anyway.

"Well, since Bella's being mean, I'm going to go to patrols." Bella tossed a wave over her shoulder. "Leech-lover."

"You wish," Bella sang. Leah and Sam just seem to find it amusing, and Sam began helping Bella. "So, any news from the woods?" Bella asked. "Have the ficus's grown?"

Sam chuckled. "Sure, maybe a few inches from the last time you were here." She shot him a grin and he shrugged. "Victoria left, things have been pretty quiet. Leah and Jake have been keeping us updated on you."

"They have?" Bella asked in surprise. Leah shot Bella another smug grin. "Why?"

"You weren't looking so hot before you left. A few of us were worried. Er, well, everyone but Paul."

She giggled. "Paul doesn't have a single bone in his body that even thinks about others."

"A condition he needs to go to the doctor for, I'm sure," Sam agreed.

"Told them you were adjusting well there," Leah explained. "And that things were better for you." Better for her. The look they both shared was proof that it had been the opposite. But Bella just shrugged herself.

"It's Florida. Not much to say, really. It's hot, it's sunny. Everything I've grown to hate, after living up here." Sam seemed surprised. "It's weird, but I moved here hating the rain, but I left really, really missing it. It grows on you."

"Yeah," Sam seemed to agree. "It sure does."

"Hey, Sam, why don't you put that turkey in the sink, fill it will room temperature water," Leah said suddenly. "Thanks."

"Will that even cook in time?" Bella asked.

"Mom's a wizard. Of course it will," Leah snorted. "It's for tomorrow anyway. We can't just make little things with two wolves in the house. Mom has to go all out to cook for us."

Oh. Wow. That was a lot of work. But Sam obeyed, like Leah was the Alpha and he was just a member of the pack. And Bella found it strange, seeing Sam follow orders. He was much better at making them.

Of course, she never would have told him that. Because that would have been weird... and interpreted a lot of ways Bella didn't mean it.

When Sue got home, she insisted htey all get started on their cliff diving, otherwise it was going to get too dark. And no matter how many times Bella offered to help cooking, Sue wouldn't budge. Apparently a few other tribes women were going to help out. Bella still felt bad.

So, Bella changed up in the bathroom off of Leah's room and threw some shorts and a jacket on to keep her warm, before she tucked her hair away. The new swimsuit was a one piece, but not because of the cliffs. Because of the bruising on her ribs. Her arm bruises were fading, so hopefully no one would notice in the twilight.

She hadn't been that lucky. Sam had met up with them on the beach, and a few other pack members were slowly trickling in, hooting to each other insults and challenges. Leah had left her to go chase after Paul for kicking sand into her shoes, and Bella took off her jacket and shorts, setting them by her shoes, before she noticed Sam frowning slightly.

"Uh... what's wrong?" Bella ventured. But he didn't answer, not right away. Instead he stepped closer and his large hand gently grasped her arm, turning it slightly into the rare sunlight.

"Where did you get this?"

Bella glanced down and winced at the yellowish bruises. They were fading, barely noticable, but Sam was also a wolf. "Sam-" Bella tried, tugging her arm from his grasp. He let her go immediately at her gesture.

"It looks like someone grabbed you."

"Just forget about it," Bella said quietly. "It's nothing. Please." And she hated how her voice worbled, as if giving away that she was lying.

And she knew he noticed it, because he swallowed, nodding. "If it was something, you'd tell us, right?"

She would. She would have to tell them all... "Eventually," Bella admitted. He seemed to get the hint, that it wouldn't be ignored for good, just for now, and he left it alone. But it was too close. He had seen the bruises, and now she was sure that others would as well. All she needed to do was jump, and then she could claim that whoever had jumped with her may have squeezed a bit too hard. Leah.

When they reached the clifftop, she grabbed Leah's hand. "Jump with me," she requested. And Leah didn't question the look in her eyes, but Bella knew it was probably looking a bit scared. She felt scared. Because she couldn't tell them before she told Charlie, and she definitely couldn't tell them all in a group like this. There was absolutely no way.

But they were the first to jump, and Bella squealed in surprise as the water was actually not as cold as it looked. But it was still definitely cold. As they trudged up to shore, a few more were jumping off, spinning as if competing for the best take off.

She jumped with nearly everyone, feeling exhausted from the constant walks up the cliffside, but she was always ready for another go. Paul shot her a grin as she hesitated. "So, Swan, we jumping or not?"

"You aren't going to kill me, right? I'm not a leech." Bella stepped closer to him, glancing down at the rocks below. And while she trusted him, she did not trust him to actually keep her alive.

Paul's deadly smirk was making her feel even more apprehensive. "Look like one to me."

"Paul..." she warned. He reached for her and grabbed her, holding him close to his side. "Paul! Paul! No!" And then he jumped, using his stupid werewolf strength to pull her with him. She squeezed her eyes shut until they crashed and surfaced, smacking him as hard as she could without hurting her hand. "You asshole!"

"Oh, come on," Paul snorted, swimming almost lazily towards the shore. "You totally liked it."

"That isn't the point," Bella insisted. As soon as there was some sand under her feet, she dug her heels into Paul's toes, causing him to growl at her in pain. Bella simply gave him a sweet smile, marching in the direction of the path for the cliffs.

"Fucking leech-lover!"

"Surprisingly, no," Bella returned over her shoulder. "You also need new insults." The only one left to jump with, when she reached the floundering pack, all still pumped full of energy, but jumping in large groups now so that the cliff top was nearly empty, was Sam. She glanced at him, and he jerked his head towards the water as if asking for permission.

"Just don't be an ass like Paul, hot-shot." The nickname left her before she even knew it and while Sam seemed to find it funny, laughing, she felt her face heat up. Sam didn't seem to notice, moving towards the cliffside and Bella joined him a second later, swallowing down the mortification. They like, barely knew each other, and already she was being an idiot. Well, they knew each other, but not like she knew Jake or Leah or Seth or any of the others. Sam was... well, the leader. And busy.

"Ready?" Sam asked, throwing his arm around her waist and pulling her as close to his warm, super tall body as she could get. Bella nodded. "One... Two... Three!" They jump, and Bella found herself giggling right before they hit the water. They were under water for a few seconds, Sam letting her go, before they floated up to the top.

There was no rush to get back to the beach, as Sam seemed to recognize that Bella was absolutely exhausted and had no desire to jump again. So when they got to the beech, sunset lighting it up as best it could, she went towards her shorts and jacket, reaching for them, when Sam commented, "There's something on your shoulder."

Bella stood slowly, pulling her hair out of the way, and she closed her eyes. "Please tell me I'm not possessed by an alien or something."

"No. But it is definitely sucking your blood." Her... She immediately felt green.

"Oh my god," Bella murmured. "Sam... get that thing off of me."

"What?" Sam asked, surprised. Bella glanced towards him, and did her best to ignore the fact that a leech was attached to her shoulder, attempting to bleed her dry.

"If Paul sees this, I'm never going to live it down," Bella insisted. "Get it off!"

"Uh, right. Okay..." He glanced around before he found a dried up piece of wood, probably a stick at one point but now it was just a hollowed out piece of driftwood, and he poked at the leech as if it would detatch.

"O-oh-oh my God," Bella groaned. "Please, just pull it off."

"I don't want to kill it-"

"I really don't care if you do or not. Just get it off. I can feel it sucking my blood. And I can feel it being all slimy and squirming on my back." The stick didn't seem to be working and Bella whimpered as she felt it suction back on after a round of Sam nearly getting it to let go. She squealed, covering her face as the thing did it again. "Sam! Get it off!"

"It's not coming off."

"Just pull it off-"

"No, just hold on. Uh... doesn't salt work?"

"I think that's slugs. Or snails." Bella peaked out of her fingers. "Sand?"

He took a hand full of sand and tossed it towards her back. She could feel the sand running down her bathing suit, and stick to her wet skin, and then warm fingers as they grasped where the leech was, plucking it off. Bella nearly sighed in relief, turning around as he tossed it back towards the ocean. She stared at where it went, before she turned back to Sam, huffing. "You could have gotten it off at any time, couldn't you?"

Sam hesitated. "Yes, but it was kind of funny."

"Sam!" She smacked his shoulder, but a giggle escaped her. "Okay, maybe, but if Paul ever hears about this... I swear to God, I will never speak to any of you again."

"Cross my heart," Sam insisted.

"And no pack mind thing either. That counts."

Sam offered his pinky finger, and she met his eyes to make sure he was serious, before she grasped pinkies and they shook. He was a dork. And probably way more of one that Quil.

"Hey!" Leah's voice said suddenly and they dropped hands. "You two ready to eat?" Bella was starving. "Mom says foods ready."

"Ladies first," Sam said, nodding towards where the bonfire was a bit down the beach. Bella smiled slightly, picking up her shoes.

"Thanks for... saving my blood from consumption."

"Sort of my job." Bella laughed, agreeing.

The bonfire consisted of stories, music, dancing, the boys roughly playing football. She sat beside Leah and Kim, seeing other members of the tribe that weren't apart of the pack, or that didn't know of the pack, gathered around and talking to one another. It was happy. And Bella found she could forget everything and just focus on what was going on around her. Leah and Kim were talking about Claire, Quil's toddler imprint, and how it must have been difficult being imprinted to someone so young.

No one seemed to know about the leech dibocle, especially since there were no slurs from Paul about it, and she was a bit grateful for that. If Paul had found out, she would have had to do something really embarrassing in order to get him to forget about it. Like falling flat on her face or running into a tree.

She tried not to think of her misery.

He'd have enough to joke about in the coming months. When the boys either got tired or found that they were going to inevitably tie in their game, they trickled back towards the bonfire, laughing and hanging off of each other. It was... very brotherly.

She excused herself, getting up to refill her cup of water, when Paul appeared, opening up the beer cooler and grabbing two. He offered her one. And while it wasn't a peace offering, it seemed to be a ... sort of thing people did when they saw someone by the drinks. "Beer?" he asked, as if she didn't know what it was. Her eyes widened slightly and she glanced down at it. "Relax, Swan. Your dad probably couldn't care less."

That wasn't why she was panicking, though she supposed that would be good. She couldn't have alcohol. "No, thanks," Bella said politely. "Uh, I'd rather not be arrested by my own dad, you know?"

He stared at her a moment, before snorting and tossing it back in the cooler. "Suit yourself, Swan."

But he didn't leave after he twisted the beer open, and he sipped from it, watching her fill up her glass with the dispenser full of water. "So... hear from your leech or anything?"

"Nope," Bella stated. "No contact with anyone less than 98.6 degrees. That's been my motto." He didn't seem to believe her. Or he just thought she was weird. But then again, the latter he had always thought. "Any imprints or are you still a whore?" That took him by surprise. He spat out the beer, coughing as he seemed to have inhaled wrong.

"What?"

"Definitely still whoring, then," Bella stated simply. "Otherwise you wouldn't have had that display."

"Fuck you."

"No, thanks. I don't want the disease," Bella quipped. But even though he was growling, she saw some appreciation in his eyes.

"You've got some balls."

"More than you."

He snorted. "Nice to see you with them for a change, Swan. Maybe you won't cry every damn minute."

She hadn't cried last time she was here, had she? She couldn't remember. She just knew that she would feel like she was being torn apart sometimes. "Go screw yourself," she muttered, but the quick smirk that went with it told him that she wasn't mad at him. And she took her water and went over towards Leah and Kim again. Her phone chirped and she checked it briefly. Charlie.

Locking up. Do you have your key?

Yeah, I'll be home in a bit. The bonfire's still going and I need to pick my stuff up from Leah's. Don't wait up.

Yet, no matter what, he always did. He was a great dad, one that really cared for her and worried over her, even when she didn't show it back to him. She did hope that he hadn't eaten sandwiches all day. She hadn't really thought to make sure there was something for him to eat.

Be safe, Bella. Goodnight.

Night, Dad.

"What'd Paul do now?"

"We've determined that I have more balls than him," Bella stated brightly to the two women. Kim raised an eyebrow. "And that he's still a whore. It was good. We now know where we stand."

"Where you stand? I thought you hated each other."

"Oh, exactly," Bella answered Kim. "Our stand on the fact that nothing should have to change."

"You guys are going to kill each other," Leah muttered.

"Oh, definitely," Bella agreed. She glanced towards the asshole still by the beers, seeing that he was onto his second. And she glanced around the rest of the bonfire. If he didn't kill her with phasing, she was sure she'd get him killed with a leech.


	4. Truths

Bella had settled into a nice routine a week after the bonfire. She would work in the days and spend her evenings in La Push with the pack, either on the beach, at Jake's, at Leah's, or at Sam's. There really wasn't a set schedule for that. If Charlie came with her, they'd go to Leah's, if he stayed home, Sue usually went to him and they had dinner. They were cute. But Bella just focused on avoiding seeing any kissing or anything.

She didn't need to see it. Though if she did, she supposed it wasn't the end of the world.

She started class in two days. She wasn't worried about that, but she had promised Leah that she would talk to Charlie before class started. And Bella knew she needed to, but the idea of... telling him was... well, terrifying. It made her feel worse than actually living through the whole Edward breakup.

She felt so anxious that she felt like she was going to pass out.

"I can't do it," Bella told Leah as they sat in her car in the drive way. She stared straight ahead, towards the garage, and didn't once glance at the girl beside her. "He will either kick me out, or think I'm lying, or ... I can't, Leah."

"I'll be in the kitchen the whole time," Leah said quietly. "And if things get out of hand, I'll intervene, but Charlie... he's great. And he's not going to freak out like I think you're imagining he will." Charlie ... Charlie had never truly freaked out. Not that she remembered, anyway. When she had told him she was leaving to go to Phoenix, when James had been after her, he had looked more heartbroken than anything. He hadn't put up a fight, just insisted that they talk before she had stormed out. And it had broken Bella's heart. It still made her feel horrible.

"Yeah, but there's always that chance that this can be ... I mean, it is a big deal. It's a huge deal. And... what if he sends me back to Jacksonville?"

"You'll live with me," Leah insisted. "And it'd be a real dick move to send you back, don't you think?" Bella supposed. "Come on. Take a deep breath, find your center or whatever shit they call it, and let's do this."

Bella obeyed, taking a deep breath and then she opened her door. "Let's hurry before I chicken out again." They had made it nearly to the front door before Bella had made some excuse about leaving something in her car - twice. Leah wouldn't let her do it again this time, Bella knew it.

So she shut her car door and kept holding her breath up until they got to the door. Her hands shook as she tried to fit her key in the hole. "Relax, Bella. It'll be fine."

"No it won't."

"I know it will be. Now get your ass inside and tell him or I will shove my hand so far up your ass, I will be moving your mouth for you." Bella appreciated the aggressive tone. It made her get a bit more confidence. And then she was opening the door.

"Charlie?"

A grunt sounded in the living room and Leah gave Bella an encouraging smile, before ducking into the kitchen, probably to grab something to eat. Bella tried to focus on that as Charlie sat up on the couch. "Everything alright, Bells?"

"Yeah... Uh, sort of. Can I talk to you?" she asked carefully. Charlie raised an eyebrow but shrugged, and Bella sat down in the chair facing the tv, but instead face Charlie, who muted it. She almost wished that he would turn it back on so that it would drown her out.

"Uh... are you going to tell me or just look like you're going to show me lunch?" Charlie asked. And the joke made her relax a bit, but she was tense again. "Bells, just spit it out. I'm not going to judge." Well... "Besides, Jake's a great kid. If the two of you are together-"

Jake? Oh, crap. "I'm pregnant." Charlie immediately paused. He stared at her a minute, as if waiting for her to continue, like she was going to say what she really wanted to say. But the more she stared at him, the more he seemed to realize that was the point. She took another deep breath and glanced away from him, towards the tv. Her hands were twisting at her fingers, until she raised one of them to her mouth, dipping the finger just into her mouth enough to chew on it. "It's why I moved here," she admitted. "I couldn't... I couldn't stay in Jacksonville. It wasn't a place... I couldn't-" Bella dropped her finger and glanced to Charlie, who looked a little pale.

"Pregnant?" he whispered hoarsely. "Bella, what on earth... Did you go to one of those parties? I always knew those boys in Jacksonville were no good-" She supposed it was a valid conclusion, as she was a teenager, in her senior year of high school, that likely would have rebelled after her nasty break up.

"No," Bella interrupted. Charlie stopped again. "I didn't leave the house or anything like that. Please..." Bella hesitated and Charlie winced as he saw the tears in her eyes. "Don't be mad at me. I never wanted this to happen, and... I'm so sorry-"

"Bella-" He got out of his seat and awkwardly sat on the arm of the chair, and his arm came around her, holding her to him. Bella felt something like a hiccup build up in her throat and she wrapped her arms around his middle. "Honey, it's going to be okay. You can tell me anything. Did he hurt you? A boyfriend or something? Do I need to make an arrest or something, because I will-"

"No. No, it was nothing like that..." Bella chewed on her lip.

"Is he being mean to you? Is that why you got away from him?"

"Sort of. It's not what you think. He's..." She rolled up her sleeves, showing him the yellow bruises that still hadn't faded. Charlie's eyes widened in shock. "I..."

"Bella, those are... those are handprints." He used his own hand to measure against the yellow. Roughly the same size, but more slender. And she got to her feet, after he came to that conclusion, and lifted her shirt slightly, showing him her still darkly bruised ribs. Charlie's horrified. "I know... I-"

"Who did this to you?" Charlie demanded, but more in a whisper of absolute horror than anger.

"He can't know I told anyone," Bella swore urgently. "He can't, because he'll hurt mom. And ... he can't hurt mom. I'll figure something out to keep her away from him, but... he promised he wouldn't hurt her if I didn't tell anyone."

"Who.. God, Bella... you're my baby girl. Who did this?"

And Bella lost it. She felt the sob tear through her and she sank down in the chair. "Phil." And after the name was out in the open, she just kept crying, Charlie's arms, though a bit limp, around her. He wasn't used to the emotions or anything. He had grown up pretty solitary. And Bella hadn't been real emotional either, living with him. Besides the whole... Edward thing.

"Phil ... Dwyer?" Charlie choked out. "Your step-dad?"

Bella nodded. "I tried to tell mom! But he came home early and... and I couldn't ... and later he threatened to hurt her if I ever said anything else." Bella hiccuped. "Please, you can't tell mom. Or let him know I know. I only have to visit them by Christmas, and then I never have to go back. I promise-"

"Bella, we need to call the police - or I need to be the police-"

"No," Bella insisted. "Please. No." She stared at him, wide eyed. "Please, let's just pretend nothing happened. Please. He'll start to hurt Renee, and I can't... he can't hurt Renee."

Charlie swallowed. "How long?"

Bella glanced away from him and he cursed. "Since... I don't know. Just before they got married."

"Christ, Bella... I can't just sit by."

"But I'm not there anymore. I'm here."

"That's why you moved here in the first place, isn't it?"

"Part of it," Bella admitted. She sniffled. "But I still loved being here with you. I moved back here because I love you and ... I missed you and... I couldn't stay there. I had to get away. I like it here, too. And I love you and... This place is just safe, too. It's far away, and I know I'm safe here."

"Who knows?"

"Just you and Leah." Bella wiped at her eyes. "I don't know what to do. I have to see them both this Christmas. And he can't know I told you."

"We still have time. Can we prove he hurt you?" Charlie asked.

Bella hesitated. "Leah took pictures the morning after I landed, but there's no other proof until the baby is a bit older. DNA tests and all." Charlie looked a little sick. "I'm sorry."

"This is not your fault," Charlie insisted. "This is that bastard's fault and he's going to rot in prison. You said Leah got pictures of your injures?"

Bella nodded. "When we went swim suit shopping."

"Good," Charlie said quietly. He rubbed his temples. "I'll look into a few things, see what I can do. God, Bella... Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't know how," Bella said quietly. "But I don't want the guys or Jake or anyone to know. Not until... until I know how to tell them."

"Of course." Charlie rubbed his face. "Bella... I'm sorry. We'll make this right. We'll... I'll do whatever I can to put him behind bars for life."

Bella gave a nod and swallowed. "But we have a lot of time, until Christmas break. Maybe... maybe mom and him will separate by then."

"Maybe." But Charlie didn't sound convinced. Bella wasn't either. "Do you... need anything? It may have been a while ago, but I remember when Renee was pregnant."

"I'm only about a month and a half along," Bella said quietly. "I'm fine. Morning sickness hasn't even started yet."

He sighed. "We'll fix it, alright?"

She just nodded. They would. She knew that. They would be okay. And she wouldn't have to worry about Phil. She trusted the pack and Charlie with that front. She was safe here. There was the sound of the microwave beeping in the kitchen, which made Charlie jump. But Bella giggled suddenly, caught so unaware that it just seemed ridiculous. She had forgotten all about Leah being there. "Leah's raiding our fridge," Bella admitted. "I asked her to come."

"Don't eat everything in there, Leah! And you better leave the frozen Fish Fry alone!"

"I eat plenty of that stuff at the diner, Charlie. Don't worry. Yours is safe." Charlie seemed appeased and cleared his throat. "So... Are you dating Jake?"

"No! Dad!" Bella cried.

Charlie just shrugged. "Just making sure." Bella rolled her eyes, and her gaze dropped to her lap. "Too young for you?"

"He's like a brother," Bella returned. "It's weird. Besides, I think Jake and I have reached an understanding that we aren't going to date ever."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

She snorted, shrugging. "I just told him, before I left for Jacksonville, that he needed to find a girl or I would find one of my old school mates and convince them that he's not as bad as he looks."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Well, there goes Billy and I's dream."

"You two conspire like old hens," Bella admitted.

The sound of a fork hitting the plate made Bella glance behind her towards the kitchen, where Leah was standing in the doorway with a piece of chocolate cake on a plate. "By the way, it's better warm," Leah remarked, before putting another bite in her mouth.

"Did you really microwave cake?"

"Don't worry, I covered it," Leah insisted. "Say, Chief, I'll tell my mom to buy you another one." Charlie flushed.

"Sue bought you a cake?" Bella asked, surprised.

"Made one," Charlie grumbled. "She only had three eggs and couldn't do anything with them, so she decided to make it."

"Wow, Leah. Some mom you've got there," Bella snorted.

"Naturally." Charlie quickly stood, and cleared his throat. "Say, Chief, mind if I spend the night with Bella? She's pretty much been a wreck all day."

Bella readied the protest that she hadn't been, but she really had.

"Yeah," Charlie said quickly. "Absolutely. Uh, you need anything, kiddo, you know I'm only a door away, right?"

"I'll keep it in mind," Bella said quietly. "Dad? Thank you for... not blowing up."

"I think I need to digest it a bit more," Charlie admitted. "You two have fun."

And with it off her chest for the first time in weeks, Bella found that she could breathe normally again. Until she remembered that she needed to tell Jake and... eventually, the pack. But that could wait. Preferably until after she was of considerable size. Maybe even after the birth.

But Leah would definitely not let it get that far. When they got up to Bella's room, Leah offered Bella the rest of her cake. "You could probably use it more than me."

"No, thanks," Bella admitted. "I'm starting to feel sick to my stomach again."

Leah perked up. "Morning sickness?"

"No, just... nerves."

"You don't have to tell them for a few more weeks, at least," Leah admitted. "Not until you've got some idea of what to do. I've made an appointment at the clinic for you in Port Angeles, too, to get you checked out. Make sure you and the twerp are healthy."

"Name calling? I'd expect it from Paul, but you?"

"It makes you feel better." It did. For some weird reason, it relaxed her just a bit. She wondered if it was because Paul used it to diffuse the tension? And she had just gotten used to it. Bella didn't know. But it did. "It'll work out. He'll rot in prison, or a grave, for the rest of his life. I may face some life sentence for killing him, but it'll be alright. I'll probably be allowed visitors and you can bring me some of this cake."

Bella smiled. "Thanks, Leah. You're the greatest."

"Beats having smelly ass Jake as a best friend, huh?"

"Totally." But she loved Jake just as much as she loved Leah. Bella flopped down on her bed, though, and exhaled. "We could always just, you know, forget he even exists."

"That's hiding from it. You have to confront him eventually. Just after we're sure Renee's safe."

Renee. It was the only reason she was keeping up the charade that nothing was wrong. That she didn't tell. Renee. She didn't put it past Phil to stick to his word. Afterall, he had no qualms against hurting her, so why not his own wife? Once they could maybe convince Renee to visit for a few weeks, maybe then... but that was so risky. Because Renee would likely not believe it.

And so the anxiety set in again. This time, because there was no answer clear in sight.


	5. Meetings

"You know, I feel like all we do is hang out with each other," Bella admitted. "Either your pessimism is rubbing off on me or you're mellowing. But either way, it's not good for our reputations. You have bitch status to protect, and I need to be miserable."

Leah kicked up her feet as she turned the channel, pausing on Spanish soap operas. "We're gunna be sisters eventually, once mom and Charlie shack up." Bella turned a bit green. She didn't want to think about Charlie "shacking up" with anyone. "Never had a sister before. No matter how hard I tried to make Seth a girl." Bella giggled. "We're just making up for lost time."

"I feel bad not spending a lot of time with Charlie," Bella admitted. "I mean, he's always working, and I have classes now, but I still feel like we barely see each other. Maybe it's just me."

"He's still getting used to the idea of his baby girl pregnant," Leah shrugged. "I mean, I caught him this afternoon staring at his coffee like he was murdering it. I don't know if it burnt his tongue, or if it was Phil's face. I'd like to think it was Phil's dick-"

"Okay!" Bella cried. "I get it." Leah snickered. "I'm just saying, it's nice to hang out with you and not smelly Jake who snores when he's just breathing." It was an exaggeration, but Jake did snore when he slept - loudly.

"Speaking of good for nothing men, we've got a pack meeting at Sam's tonight."

Bella frowned. "Pack meeting? I'm not invited to that."

Leah snorted, turning the channel again, to yet another Spanish soap opera channel. "You run with wolves now, not leeches. You're pack." And it made Bella feel warm. She was close with the pack, sure, but she had never been named a member of the pack. "So, speaking of said Alpha, what were you two doing on the beach after cliff diving?"

Bella groaned. "Swear to me you won't repeat this to Paul."

"That bad?"

"When we got out of the water, Sam noticed a leech on my shoulder." Leah stared at her before she erupted into laughter. "And it took him like five minutes to get it off!" Bella continued, not laughing. "But it turns out, he could have just pulled it off anytime, he just liked watching me squirm." She crossed her arms, staring at the tv and waiting for Leah to change the channel, yet again, because she was indecisive. "Screw Sam."

When Leah finally stopped laughing, only a few giggles erupting now and then, she spoke almost curiously. Too curiously. It made Bella suspicous. "I didn't know you two were friends."

Bella shrugged. "I don't know. It's not like we hate each other, we just don't really know each other." Leah understood that. "He's nice. I see why he's Alpha."

"Because he gives orders?"

Bella smirked. "No. Because he knows how to keep everyone in line, but..." Bella shrugged again, as if uncomfortable with where this was going. "He knows how to keep people safe, and he knows when people are in danger. And... I don't know. I feel safe around him. How can you not?"

Leah gave an equally as uncomfortable shrug. "Well, for starters, I've seen him naked."

Bella giggled. "Way to ruin it, Leah."

"What? It's weird. Besides, I get to see him naked plenty with phasing for patrols. I've seen everyone naked more than I care to ever see in my life." Bella supposed, but she didn't see how that was exactly a bad thing. It wasn't like they were all awful looking. "Stop drooling. But Sam is just something else."

"Really?" Bella asked, but her tone wasn't as suprised, as it was thoughtful. "I've always sort of thought that Seth was packing the most." But it was a joke, entirely, as Leah tossed a pillow at her, hitting her in the warm as Bella giggled, shielding herself.

"No! Absolutely not. Sam..." Leah paused on an infomercial for adult bibs. "Sam can't disappoint with what he has."

Bella's giggles turned into an eye roll. "Whatever, Leah. Enough about Sam, anyway. You sure do like to bring him up. Are you sure you're still okay with him? It doesn't sound like it."

Leah glanced at her, almost like she was a little alarmed. "Of course I am! That wasn't what I meant to get at. I just meant to get at the fact that you two were flirting on the beach."

"Sam and I weren't flirting," Bella promised. "Besides, you're my best girl friend, I wouldn't... date your ex-boyfriend. That's... sort of a bitch move."

Leah shrugged. "I wouldn't mind. You need an older guy. And I think we can agree that Jake and you aren't going to work out."

"Not you too-"

"Sam and you would be nice," Leah pressed. Bella raised an eyebrow and Leah shrugged, yet again. "Just consider it."

"And this whole baby thing, you know, doesn't mean anything at all," Bella stated sarcastically.

"We really are hanging out together too much. You're starting to sound like me." Bella raised an eyebrow though and Leah sighed. "Bella, relax. You know none of the guys will care about that. They'll want to tear his ass apart, yes, but all of them are going to be insanely excited. I mean, it's the first pup in the pack."

Bella chewed on her lip. "But I'm not pack. Not like you guys. I'm like... the fungus that grows on the side."

"You're pack," Leah said strongly. "And pack means family. No matter what. Even if you're a lone wolf, or dating my brother, or eloping with Jake, you're pack." Bella swallowed, and the warm feeling returned. "Not fungus. Maybe a leech, though." Bella stuck her tongue out at Leah.

"I'm serious, if Paul finds out-"

"I heard you," Leah smirked. "But pack mind-"

"Leah," Bella warned.

"Jeeze, look who's getting tempermental. Hormones?"

"Leah, I swear to God-"

"Alright, come on, we've got a meeting to go to."

"I thought it was later-"

"Nope. In about twenty minutes."

Bella groaned. "Fine. Let me put some pants on."

Sam's house was just as overflowing with wolves as the last few times she had been there. And while food was being cooked, the boys all gathered around the table. Well, the boys and Leah. Bella thankfully swept away to the kitchen to help Kim with the huge amounts of food, and listening to their meeting from afar. Bella sometimes wondered how Kim felt, being the only imprint. Sue helped with food, as did some of the guys, but when it came to meetings, they were pulled into it and Kim was left to her own devices.

But she didn't want to ask her. Kim was nice. She had a pleasant smile and she was so overly kind that Bella wondered if she was faking it sometimes. But it didn't seem so. She was just... the perfect first imprint.

So Bella quickly fell into step with Kim on throwing the chicken on the piping hot gridle, and cutting potatoes for the potato salad. It was a choatic mess, but it was also organized in its own way. This was how feeding the pack always seemed to be. How the pack could afford this, Bella had no idea. It was like feeding a small army.

And none of them were ridiculously wealthy. She wondered if there was maybe a benefactor or something? She didn't know. Honestly, while Bella was curious, she didn't want to know. She didn't want to get the nagging suspicions in her stomach up too high on a hunch. She didn't want to think about them. The more innocent the food she was cutting, the better.

Her and Kim fell into easy, quiet conversation about Jared, and while Bella suspected that the boys could hear them, they made no indication. But Kim was over the moon. The look on her face was what Bella expected herself to look like with Edward. Completely in love, with no chance of ever falling out of it. Bella had been wrong about her ex, but Kim... well, with the imprint, there was no chance at her being heartbroken.

They were in love. Having dated for a grand total of six months, Kim was sure about it. And she knew that Jared loved her in return. It was nice to see, a happy ending. And though they were only Bella's age - having just finished their senior year in high school, Kim was taking classes in Seattle and Jared was in training to work at the firehouse with Sam.

They didn't live together, but they lived just a few houses away. And Sam's house had, by default, become their home away from home. A place they could be together whenever Jared didn't have work or she didn't have school.

So, Sam's home wasn't really Sam's home. It was the pack's home. And through their conversation, Bella learned that Paul would stay frequently overnight instead of going to his house. The reasons weren't stated, but Bella had a feeling it had to do with Paul's anger problems. There would be times that at least four or five people would be finding a place to crash multiple times a week. And Sam was sort of... well, raising a pack. Like any alpha in the wild would surely do.

And when the conversation turned back to Jared, a story Kim was telling about their first date in Seattle, Bella politely tuned her out, nodding occassionally and cutting a few more potatoes before she started to add more ingredients to the potato salad.

She was drawn out of her daydream when the boys began to argue, loudly protesting or complaining as Sam made their patrol schedule for the next two weeks.

"You choose five days and you run that hour on thsoe days," Sam said, and while his voice was firm, he looked exhausted. "That's never changed. If you keep complaining, I'll make it six."

They grumbled out times and days, and Sam wrote them down. And when they finally agreed on it, Bella suspected only because food was done, he rose and put the schedule on the fridge. It wasn't anything special looking, but as Bella began plating the chicken onto a large platter, her eyes drifted to the schedule. One thing she noticed was that wherever someone else didn't have a patrol, Sam's name was written. Every day, sometimes twice or three times a day. There were always two people at the same time, but the times were... large gaps. At night, they lasted up to six hours a patrol shift. And during the day, they were a more managable four.

"Food's up!" Kim called. And all of the wolves seemed to surge like a tsunami towards the kitchen.

"Hey," Sam snapped. "Ladies first." The wolves almost halted immediately and Bella giggled with Kim.

"Mmm," Kim sighed. "Look at this chicken." She forked a few pieces onto her plate before handing a plate to Bella. "So juicy, huh, Bella?"

"Smells delicious, too," Bella admitted cruelly. "Like Sue's secret recipe."

"And these potatoes," Kim continued, throwing some mashed potatoes onto her plate. "Double the cream, a little butter, some salt and pepper-"

"Fuck you guys," Paul growled.

Bella just gave him a grin. "No thanks, mutt. I don't know what's touched that."

"I don't know what's touched you," he returned in a growl.

Bella snorted. "Touchee."

And once she had her plate, and Kim had hers, the boys started shoving each other in order to get their own food. It was ridiculous. Bella hopped out of her seat almost immediately after sitting, and moved back towards the counter, grabbing a drink, and she rolled her eyes at seeing the scraps left on all of the dishes.

It was like they never ate. Ever. Turning back around, she saw her seat gone, stolen by Jake, and she groaned before she approached him. "You stole my seat," she stated simply.

Her best friend looked up from his plate, and grinned, slinking an arm around her waist and tugging her onto his lap. She couldn't help but giggle, especially when he tried to steal a piece of chicken off of her plate. "Jake! You're my best friend. Stop trying to make moves on me."

"I'm not making a move on you. I'm trying to steal your food. Besides, Charlie would probably murder me."

"Really?" Bella snorted. "Just last week he asked me if we hooked up. I nearly died laughing."

"Hey!" Jake cried.

"What?" Bella returned, shifting in his lap so that his knee wasn't digging into her thigh. "Jake, you're like my brother. It's gross." The wolf behind her grunted. "What?"

"I'm totally hot. We'd totally be awesome together."

Bella nearly gagged, purely for comedic effect. "Nice try. But no. I'm good."

"Shame," Jake admitted around the chicken in his mouth. "We'd have hot babies."

Bella smacked at his hand as he went for her plate again. "Eugh. No. We'll have no babies. Jesus, Jake. I'm going to sit on the floor, you creep. You're like fourteen."

"I thought I was four."

"Eh. You look older than you actually are," Bella shrugged. He did manage to steal a fork full of her potato salad, but as the room began to empty, people going home, Jake took her keys from her.

"I'll take you home. I've got patrols tonight anyway."

Bella didn't protest. She did help Kim with dishes, though, before she bid goodbye to the people still over - Paul, Jared, and Sam. And then Jake was starting up her truck.

"She runs good," Jake commented as Bella hopped into the passenger side. "Does she make it to Port Angeles?"

"I'd have called you if she hadn't," Bella returned. "Yeah. I haven't had any problems so far. But I don't want to jinx it."

Jake nodded and as they drove for a few minutes, it was silent. Until he spoke. "So... how is everything?"

"Alright. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why does Sam take like three shifts a day for patrols?"

Bella didn't know where the question came from, but it had been bothering her. Jake shrugged, though, like it wasn't a big deal. "We don't have enough pack to fill up all the slots. So Sam, Jared, Paul, and Leah fill up the extra spots. Mostly Sam, but the others pull their parts too."

"But doesn't Sam work? And Jared and Paul and them? They have to have time to sleep, don't they?"

Jake shrugged. "Sam does a triple patrol on Wednesdays and Fridays, and he has time to sleep after the wednesday one, and his job is pretty flexible. The tribe supports the wolves, so we don't work full time. We'd never be able to. Leah does some double shifts, on the days she doesn't work at the diner. Paul does some, as does Jared, whenever they can. It all depends on the schedules. Sam's Alpha, Jared's Beta, and Paul is third-in-command. Leah's pretty much Sam's right-hand when it comes to pack things. The four of them run everything."

"Oh... I guess I've never really given it much thought."

"When I graduate high school, I'll take over for Jared. He wants to focus more on a life with Kim, anyway." Bella could see that. "Eventually the vamp threat will go away and we'll just start to stop phasing. Or we'll cut some patrols that are unnecessary. Maybe only have one person run."

"It seems so... exhausting. I mean, Sam looked incredibly tired. And you have to be super tired, all the time, too. Especially with school and patrols and everything."

Jake shrugged. "We do what we have to. We're worried some vamps might come back."

Bella supposed. And with her, they were likely going to follow her. It had been her biggest worry living so far away from the pack in Jacksonville. That Victoria would find her. But she hadn't. And that was a big relief.

"I hope that no vamps come back," Bella admitted quietly. "I think that's the last thing anyone needs. The last year was stressful enough with Laurent and Victoria constantly skirting everyone."

"Yeah, but we killed dreadlock guy, so we don't have to worry about him."

"But Victoria is ... she's just so hard to catch." Bella only knew because when James had happened, everyone had just managed to corner her when Victoria had escaped. "It was thought to be her gift."

"Great," Jake said bitterly. "More gifts."

"At least it's not mind reading," Bella commented. "That's nice."

Jake snorted. "Yeah. That is."

Bella crossed her arms as she leaned back in her seat. "You know what sucks?"

"Your face?"

"The fact that you are still in school. We could totally get into bars and stuff with how old you look."

"You still look eighteen."

"Eh. Close enough."

Jake laughed. "On your nineteenth birthday, we'll try it. See how far we get."

"Twentieth," Bella returned. For reasons she wouldn't tell him at the moment. "Then we'll both be closer."

Jake gave a nod. "Twentieth. You'll have to remind me."

"Sure." And when they pulled up to Charlie's, the lights were off and Jake confirmed that Charlie was asleep in his room.

"Charlie's been a bit anxious these past few days, dad says."

"He's got a lot going on at work," Bella answered the unspoken question almost too quickly. "I think they found a dead body in the woods from those hikers that went missing last time I was here. And now they're working on identifying him."

"Oh, yeah. I can see how that makes him a bit... irritable," Jake admitted. "But... you're okay, right?"

"Of course," Bella answered. She glanced to him, frowning slightly. "Why?"

"You just... looked a little weird while you and Kim were cooking. Like... upset."

"Did I?" Bella asked in surprise. "No. I wasn't."

"She was talking about Jared and her."

"Oh." Bella shrugged. "I don't know. It's just... weird hearing people talking about loving someone forever. Because I believed in that, too. And it didn't work out so well. But they have forever because of the imprint. And it's just... weird."

"You don't like the imprint thing?"

Bella shrugged again. "I do. But... I also think it's kind of... fake, you know? Like, does Jared really love Kim? Or is it entirely real? And I hate saying it, because they look so happy together and I know they love each other, but I feel like the imprint sort of... makes it fake, you know? Like with my blood to Edward. He was drawn to me because I was his singer, but he didn't really love me."

"Imprinting is nothing like that douche bag," Jake snapped. Bella glanced at him to see his fingers gripping her steering wheel a little hard. "We don't immediately fall in love with our imprints or anything. It's not like that. We just... notice them. And sure, they're the center of our world and we put them first, but... we aren't forced to love them. It's just like... any relationship. You just notice the imprint like you'd notice anyone you're interested in. Only the wolf is interested in them, too."

"The wolf?"

Jake shrugged again. "Sure. There's a wolf in your head. Not crazy or anything, but the more in touch with your wolf, the harder it is to control. Like Paul. He's pretty quick to phase for anything. The wolf sees the person as a potential mate, too. And they see the person romantically, before the human part of you does. So... like my wolf, if I were to imprint on you, would be like, hey, let's mate, right? But I'd be like, Bella's my sister. And you don't always marry whoever your imprint is. Sometimes, people imprint on cousins or neices or nephews or something. It can just be for family, too. Like to protect someone. But it feels different. You don't feel the need to mate with them. You feel the need to solely protect them."

"So there are like two different imprints."

"Basically."

"And Jared and Kim have the romantic one. But Quil and Claire?"

"It's family. Until she turns like sixteen or something. And then it's likely to turn romantic." Bella glanced at Jake, surprised. "Or it could stay family. Quil's not sure who his dad is, so it's possible that they're related somehow. They won't know until she's older."

"Oh... That's..."

"Not what you were expecting?"

"No," Bella agreed. "But why do people imprint then?"

Jake shrugged. "Maybe it's to carry on the gene. They pick the best fit person. Maybe it's to find someone to compliment us. We don't really know. My grandfather only had my dad. And the other wolves in that pack only had one kid, too. So... maybe it's not for babies. We're not sure."

"Well, I'm not destined to carry wolf spawn. That's nice." Jake snorted, amused. "Though, a little sad I can't practice making any with some of them."

"Ugh, Bella-"

"What? You guys know you're attractive. I only catch every single teenage girl and older on the res starting at you guys during the bonfires."

Jake laughed. "I'll let the guys know you're looking for some bed buddies."

"Ugh, you're such a dweeb. I'm only kidding."

"I don't know, you sure were staring at Paul's chest."

Bella started to laugh and she couldn't seem to stop. "If I was, it was probably because he rolled in his own crap, and there was some left on his body. Was I really?"

But Jake didn't answer, because he had pulled into Charlie's. "See you tomorrow?"

"Sure," Bella agreed. "Whenever I get out of class, I'll cook for Charlie and then head on down." As Jake turned off the loud truck, they were plunged into silence on the driveway. He passed her her keys. "Thanks, but you didn't have to drive me home. I'd have been fine."

Jake shrugged. "No problem. I have patrols around Forks so I got a few more minutes so I don't have to run it." Bella rolled her eyes. Of course. "Be safe, loca."

"No boys, no drugs, no parties," Bella teased, opening the car door. "Get to patrols, Jake."

"Yes, Alpha ma'am, miss."

"You're such a dork," Bella groaned. "Get away. Go stink yourself up and roll in some mud."

He only gave a salute before he ducked out of the car, and he was running off. Bella rolled her eyes, shutting her truck door and heading towards the house. A wolf howl sounded in the distance, not calling out for back up, but calling out a goodbye.

"Night, Jake," Bella muttered, quietly entering her home and seeing that everything was practically turned off. Charlie must have headed to bed a while ago. She climbed the stairs to her room quietly and closed the bathroom door before turning on the bathroom light. Staring at herself in the mirror, she looked... well, alright. Not too bad, not too good. And she could see why Jake had been a little worried.

Lifting her shirt, she winced at the sight of the bruises that were still healing. Her ribs were still tender, but they didn't hurt as much as they had. And she was grateful for that. Maybe she'd be fixed up in a little while and then she could wear a two piece again. But then she'd start to expand. And grow. And then she'd have questions and... Bella wasn't looking forward to that.

She wasn't looking forward to the stares or the whispers. Or anything else you see in the movies of people that get pregnant when they're eighteen. She wasn't ... she didn't want to deal with any of that. And God, she hoped it'd at least be not as rough as it seemed at the moment. Because she didn't know if she'd be able to handle it emotionally.

Lowering her shirt, Bella shut off the bathroom light and moved to her bedroom, where she settled down and buried her face in the pillow, and her tears came.


	6. Dating

Once the cool jelly hit Bella's stomach, her nerves tripled and she felt like she was going to puke.

"Sorry, it's cold," the doctor said and Bella tried to give her a smile, but instead ended up squeezing her eyes shut and leaning her head back. If Bella was being honest with herself, she didn't want to be here. She didn't want a doctor appointment to see the baby that she wasn't even sure she wanted. Adoption was something she had been reading up on these last few days, and after an article or two, she felt too guilty to continue.

She didn't know what to do if the baby ended up like Phil. It was her biggest fear. It was what she dreamed about at night, that had her wake up with gasps and sweat. Phil. If the baby did, Bella... she just didn't even want to think about it.

"Alright," Bella heard the doctor speak, the machine pressing gently, yet firmly, against her belly. "Just a second…" And then Bella heard an almost thumping noise. "There we go." Bella's eyes flew open and she glanced to the doctor. "It's a strong heart beat." The heart beat? It didn't sound like how Bella expected. It didn't sound like anything she expected. "If you look to the screen, you can see the beginning of development."

Hesitantly, Bella obeyed. And the image was not entirely human looking, but she could definitely see the features of something growing. "Woah." The doctor gave Bella a smile and Bella shifted slightly, so that she could get a better look. The screen was mostly dark, but the few bits of white formed the shape of a body. "That's… the baby?"

"And it's very healthy. Of course, it's too soon to tell what the gender is, but you've definitely got a strong baby in there." Bella tried to give the doctor a smile, but instead it turned out to be strained. Jesus. She… this wasn't quite what she expected. Devil horns, maybe. But not… an actual baby. Which was, in hindsight, ridiculous.

"I can print you out a few pictures. How many?"

"Two," Bella felt herself whispering and she swallowed. Maybe adoption was not in the works. Not when something that… that tiny was inside of her. It felt like she needed to protect it, to keep it away from people like Phil. To keep it away of ever becoming like Phil.

By the time Bella left the doctor's office, she was clutching the pictures tightly in her hand and saw Leah in the waiting room, on the phone with someone. "-not sick. It's just those check-ups girls get. To make sure we don't get sick." They were talking about her. "Stop it, Sam. Look, she just walked out. And we're going to get ice cream." Sam? Why on earth would Sam care where they were? "Tell Jake to stop freaking out. Phones are supposed to be off at a doctor's appointment." Leah hung up and rolled her eyes towards Bella. "Jake was getting worried when you didn't answer the phone."

"It was only like fifteen minutes," Bella said simply.

"Yeah, well, Jake gets a little worked up when he can't find you. Has something to do with the good old days, I think." The good old days. Right. Bella let Leah stand, before following her to the car. "So… how was it?"

"Good, I think," Bella shrugged. And as they got into Leah's sedan, Leah gave her an expectant look. "What?"

"Do I get to see the pictures, or no? I only drove you here."

Bella gave a start. "Oh! Right." She unwound her hand from the grip she had on them, and passed them to Leah. "She said it's strong. And… I don't know. I think I'm feeling a bit numb."

"Numb?"

"That it's alive. And this is real." Bella glanced to Leah, who was still looking at the blobby picture. "I don't know, I guess now everything's true."

Leah glanced to her, and her expression was borderline pity. "Charlie and I have your back. And you know, once word gets to the pack, they will too. You're pack, remember?" Bella swallowed, nodding. "Screw dickwad."

"Which one?" Leah gave a bark of laughter.

"Fair point."

It was bonfire day. Yet another person on the reservation had phased, and it brought their numbers to never before seen records. Pack numbers were so high, that everyone was getting their fair share of shifts. And in just the last few weeks that Bella had been back, numbers had grown by five.

It was a lot. It was the size of the pack when Bella first met them. Now, it was nearing fifteen. Three times the size. And with that, it gave Bella a feeling that things were far from over. Legends had it that wolves only phased when there was a need to protect the reservation, to protect the area from vampires. And with people still phasing, well… that meant vampires weren't quite done with Forks or La Push.

Bella had asked to cook, to give Kim a break, and definitely Sue, who usually used her entire diner in order to make enough food for the pack. So, Bella was employing the help of Leah, and they were going to make a big enough feast. Leah would tell her how much was enough. And she would make a grocery run if they ran out of supplies.

"I would call Jake, though," Leah said as Bella began to turn the potato salad. "Since he was so worried."

Bella thought he could sit there and stew for a while. But she agreed, and while Leah ran out to grab more potatoes and eggs, Bella dialed Jake's number.

It hadn't even rung before he answered. "Loca? Where you've been?"

Bella sighed. "At a doctor's appointment Jake. Just a check up. It's nothing to worry about. Leah said you were frantically calling Sam?"

"Er…" There was some slight hesitation, as if embarrassed. "Right. Sorry, I… I got worried, you know. You've pulled disappearing acts before."

"Yeah, that was a long time ago," Bella said flatly.

"You're coming to the bonfire tonight, right?" Bella could hear voices in the background, as if they were arguing over something, but trying to be quiet so as not to be overheard on the phone.

"I'm cooking for it, remember?" Bella said carefully, confused. "You got all excited because I was going to make some of my hamburgers for the grill."

"Oh, right!" Jake wasn't one to forget about food. "Sorry. Mind's been distracted with the new recruits." Bella could only imagine. Five temper tantrum prone teens? "When do you think you'll get over here?"

"Where is here?"

"Sam's."

"Two hours. I've got to put the potato salad in the fridge, and get a few coolers packed of the meat. Can you ask Sam if it's okay if I finish a few things there? My wait at the doctor's took longer than I thought, and so I'm behind schedule." There wasn't even a pause before Jake spoke.

"Yeah, that's fine. Sam's place is always open, loca. You know that."

"It's still weird to walk into someone's house and act like I own the place. It's also called polite to ask," Bella snorted. "Seriously, Jake. Do I need to start locking my doors?"

"I know where the spare key is, so it wouldn't do much," Jake admitted. Bella just gave out a laugh, and stared at the half-finished potato salad. "Besides, Charlie gave me my own copy when you left."

"Is that why he had to make me a new one when I moved back?" Bella accused. "I knew it was because of you."

"Just be sure to get here, and not skip out on us. We're starving."

"It's lunch time. Go make yourselves a sandwich."

"You really want me to tell almighty alpha to make himself a sandwich?"

"Are you that dependent?" Bella returned in good humor. "I'll tell him myself, if you're going to pee your pants."

"Do it." And suddenly the phone was being passed to someone, and the arguing in the background immediately ceased.

"Bella?" Sam's voice asked, as if uncertain.

"Do I need to walk you boys through the steps of making a sandwich?" Bella asked, and she heard the sound of keys clinking as Leah arrived back from the store. The moody teen raised an eyebrow in question as she heard Sam reply.

"No, ma'am."

"Are you sure?" Bella continued. "Because Jake says you guys are starving. And I know for a fact that there are three loaves of bread in the cabinet and four pounds of lunch meat in the fridge. I went with Kim yesterday to buy them."

"We're always starving." And she could tell that Sam was smiling. Bella rolled her eyes, and Leah sat down, setting the bags of potatoes on the counter, obviously listening in.

"Alright, walk to the fridge," Bella instructed. "And pull out the lunch meat." She knew he did as instructed, because of the rustling of plastic she could hear. "Then grab the bread. And put whatever junk you want on there. But now you have no excuse. I'll be there in two hours. Tell Paul not to chew on the furniture."

"Wait-" But Bella hung up, and glanced to Leah, giving a sigh. "How on earth are they able to dress themselves?"

"Some days, they walk into Sam's completely naked." Bella figured. She threw potatoes in the pot, still warm from the first boiling session, and filled it with water.

"Hey, Leah?" Bella asked after a few moments of silence. "The money you guys have to buy all the clothes and food you need to keep the pack running… where does it come from?"

Leah was silent for a minute. "We have an unlimited card given to us. To buy whatever we need. Believe me, we tried to do it ourselves, but with Paul and Victoria, we couldn't afford it for longer than a month." That still didn't answer Bella's question, but it made her suspicions seem that much more possible. "I don't think you really want to know whose money we're spending."

"I think I have a good guess."

"Yeah, you probably do." Bella chewed on her lip, shoving the empty potato bags in the trash. "We don't like it, but it's the only option we have without being naked hippies." Bella knew that. It just gave her a weird feeling. They had abandoned her, but not their enemies. What did that even mean?

"Do any of you guys ever… I don't know, buy a new truck or something with it?"

"Sam calls them and asks about big purchases. Like when we had to replace Paul's living room when he first phased." Sam called them? Just like that? "They always approve it, they couldn't care less, but… I don't know, principle of it all."

"Yeah." Bella chewed on her lip as Leah began unpacking the thawed ground beef and putting it in ice filled coolers. "How do you still have their numbers? All their old numbers were disconnected when they moved."

Leah hesitated. "They gave us new ones."

Bella did her best to make it seem like it was no big deal, but Jesus Christ. Just one email to tell her it was pointless to call? One email saying if there was anything she wanted to get fucking closure on, email or call or text or write a damn letter? Of course not.

"They're complete assholes, Bella. And not worth your time. Be mad at them at the bonfire and burn a hotdog in their honor or something-" Bella shot Leah a look of worry. "What? I do that whenever they piss me off."

"When do they piss you off?"

"For starters, when they piss you off. Like right now. One less hotdog in my stomach, thanks to you."

Bella just rolled her eyes, and continued cooking. The wolves were just as dramatic as always.

When they finally got to Sam's, a few minutes late, Sam was in the kitchen, heating up the oven and pulling things out of the fridge that Bella had made a list to pull out herself. She lifted the cooler onto the counter, staring at him. He didn't notice for a few minutes, but when he did, he spun completely to give her his full attention. "Hey."

"Hey…" Bella said slowly. "What are you doing?"

"Leah texted me what you wanted out-" Bella glanced towards Leah, who set down two coolers. "Need any help?"

"There are a few coolers in the truck," Bella admitted. "Wow, I think you're the most useful one yet." Sam shot her a smile before he was off to get the coolers. "Huh," Bella said to herself as Leah disappeared too. Everything was on the counter. Even things she wasn't sure he had. That was… well, fantastic.

Sam was honestly great. And it looked like none of the food had been eaten. Like it had the last time Bella cooked for a bonfire, and two packs of hotdogs was missing.

The bonfire was a blast. The new recruits were young, barely into their eighth grade year, which worried Sam. The members kept getting younger and younger. All of the new five were under the age of fifteen. Seth was just sixteen. And the two youngest, Collin and Brady, were in sixth grade.

By the time the pack trickled out, either to their patrol duties or home for the night, as many still had curfews, Bella was left with dish duty, and the dishes were brought back to Sam's, to be cleaned out. It was easier to leave the dishes here than lug them back home, only to bring them back for the next day. So, she washed them diligently, silently, in the almost silent house. A few of the guys had a beer in their hands and were watching a game in the living room - mainly Sam, Jake, Paul, and Jared. The top four, she referred to them as. The important guys.

After a Seahawks touchdown, Bella rolled her eyes. "Sorry guys, I'm turning on the disposal for a second."

"Go for it," Jake called back.

It was only a few seconds, but she could tell it was murder on their sensitive hearing. She tried to do it for short bursts whenever it was absolutely necessary.

A warm body next to her made her jump in surprise as she turned the disposal off, and she saw Sam tossing his beer bottle into the recycling before giving her an easy smile. "Need some help?"

"I've got it," Bella insisted. "You probably want to watch the game. But if you want to, I can't stop you. I mean, it's your house."

He took a casserole dish and began wiping it dry, and she moved onto scrubbing out another. Once he put that away in the cabinet, he went to the next one in the drying rack. "You've been avoiding the games and stuff, that the pack do."

Bella shrugged. "I just like watching you guys have fun. You're all happy, and I just like to blend in in the background."

"Blend in." He seemed to consider it, but Bella flushed, glancing down at herself.

"Well, I mean, you know, just … you know, sit there and watch, like a fly on the wall-"

He chuckled. "I knew what you meant."

She swallowed down the burning red on her face. And instead, she focused on commenting, "You have a nice place." She glanced towards him. "How long have you lived here?"

"My whole life. My mom left it to me when she died."

Bella winced, dropping her gaze. "Oh, sorry. I didn't-"

"It was a long time ago," Sam shrugged, nonchalantly, and he took the freshly washed dish from her hand, drying it with a rag.

"How old were you?"

"Sixteen."

"Oh, wow," Bella murmured, surprised. That was young.

"Yeah, but Billy and Harry let me live on my own."

"What do you do for a living? I remember Jake saying you were Chief, but that didn't start until recently, right?"

"I'm a firefighter," he admitted, giving her a small shrug as she glanced up at him in surprise. "I work at the local firehouse. It's great, but not as exciting as it sounds. And I'm Chief part time. The res isn't as big as it used to be." Oh.

"That's pretty cool. I didn't even know the reservation had it's own firehouse. But obviously, right? It's its own township-"

"Yeah. You take classes in Port Angeles, right?"

"Yeah, just a few. I'm working on transferring to Seattle."

"Oh. Would you live in Seattle?" Sam asked. "It would be closer and all."

She shrugged. "I don't think so. I'd probably stay here." She gave a small smile. "I'll probably still work in town or something." He just nodded, as if he thought it was a good plan. And they were silent as the routine of washing and drying continued.

When he finally spoke, it was so sudden that she didn't even know he was speaking to her, and not commenting on the game that the boys were still watching. "Are you doing anything Friday?"

Bella glanced at him, surprised. "Um, no, I don't think so. I have classes at three."

"Would you like to... get lunch or something?" Sam asked, a bit relieved. Lunch? Lunch with Sam? With Sam who was her best friend's ex-boyfriend. And also incredibly charming and handsome. That Sam? Also Alpha of La Push pack, Sam? And always going out of his way to help her with preparing food or cleaning up or talking to her.

"Sure," Bella admitted. And when she did, she was a bit surprised by how much she liked the idea. Sam was… well, great. In a way that she wanted to learn more about. She just didn't know that much about the mysterious Alpha. Just what Leah had told her, which was very one-sided.

But the smile he gave her when she agreed, was heartwarming. "Say about eleven-thirty?"

Bella grinned. "Absolutely. Just text me where."

He gave a nod, agreeing, and seemed to relax beside her, as the routine of washing and drying continued, this time in silence. The only noise being the game and the three guys in the living room cheering loudly.

She texted Leah that night, after she got home. "Got a date with Sam. Cool or not cool?"

Leah's response was immediately. "Cool. When?"

"Friday. Don't know where. You sure it's okay?"

"Give him more hell than I did, girl. I'll call you in morning on your way to class."

"Sure. Night."

"Night."

Bella stared at the conversation for a minute before she groaned and flopped onto her bed. She was going on a date with her best friend's ex-boyfriend. And her best friend was cool about it. Although, she supposed they had been broken up for about two years, and Leah was over it, but still. It was… this was something she had a feeling a few people would not be cool with.

But she just needed to sleep.

That morning, she spent the hour in the car and the half hour at the coffee shop on the phone with Leah, discussing … well, everything.

"Are you ready to date again?" Leah opened with. Bella could tell that she was at Sue's diner, because whenever there was a need to wait a table, Leah would put Bella on hold, before she was back a second later. "I mean," Leah continued, "your breakup with the douche was a while ago, but… it hit you pretty hard- Sorry, mom. But this is important."

"When he asked, I mean… I was kinda excited. I still am excited. But.. I mean, I don't know anything about him, really. And he's your ex-boyfriend, and that whole bit just feels wrong to me."

"Why?" she questioned. "You're excited. Why should the past I have with him be an issue? I told you a few weeks ago, he could date my best friend, and I couldn't care."

"Why did you say that, then?"

"Because I meant it-"

"No, you know what I mean-"

"He's been thinking about it nonstop on patrols for a week now." Bella felt her eyebrows raise in surprise. "It was about time. I was wondering if he was ever going to ask you."

"He's been thinking about this for a while?"

"Yeah, so just don't worry about me. This is your second chance, after the douche."

"Yeah, I mean, I guess," Bella said before pulling into the school parking lot. "I've got class. But movie night?"

"My place. See you."

"Bye."

Throughout the week, whenever she wasn't at the reservation, Bella worried about an outfit. Not just any outfit, but the outfit she wanted to wear to lunch with Sam. And that meant something to worry about. With her past relationship, planning an outfit was done for her. Now, she was on her own. And that meant she had to panic for herself.

She had nothing to wear.

And it was Friday morning. She needed an outfit. She needed one now. She had to meet Sam in an hour in Port Angeles. And that meant that she was basically screwed.

Closing her eyes, she reached into her closet and grabbed the next thing she could touch. Whatever it was was going to be what she wore. Opening her eyes, it was a light blue dress, one that she had gotten in Florida, but the September heat was warm in Forks. Just a little chilly.

It was the best thing she had. She might as well. "I'm not going to make it."

She didn't think so, physically. But mentally, she felt like she was going to explode. And all she had been thinking about was the scans she received from the doctor a few days before. And now with the date with Sam, now she was thinking about the two things together. She couldn't go on a date with Sam. Not with the scans. Not with knowing her condition. It was… it was like false advertising.

When she got to the restaurant in Port Angeles, Sam was sitting out front, with a shirt on. She immediately decided she didn't like him with a shirt. Because now she could look him over, and be caught staring. Whereas without the shirt, she would pointedly avoid looking at them. His messy black hair was actually combed, and there was a scent to him… an alluring cologne that wasn't too strong, but subtle enough that she wanted to get closer.

He was dangerous. Simply put.

He gave her a bright smile when he spotted her, which was as soon as her truck pulled into the lot, and stood, giving her a one armed hugged. The cologne was definitely deadly.

"You look great," he complimented.

"Thank you," Bella flushed. "You do, too, but I'm not so sure about how I feel with you wearing a shirt. It's weird."

Sam seemed to find it amusing, while Bella flushed in further mortification. "I'll go without one next time."

Bella glanced up to the restaurant, finding it was a little deli, nothing too fancy. It was perfect. "You hungry?"

"Starving," Bella admitted.

"Me too, but I'm always starving."

She giggled and he was already moving towards the door, holding it open for her. "I don't think you guys are wolves anymore," Bella teased. "You've got to be bottomless pits."

"If only we could shift into that," Sam snorted. "We'd catch leeches a lot easier." She felt so too. Once they spent five minutes ordering, neither of them had ever been here before, they found a quiet little booth in the corner, at the window, where they sat and talked.

There wasn't anything in particular they talked about, but things about their lives - how she liked school, when Sam started at the firehouse, when he phased, being leader, and what it's like to live somewhere sunny.

"I don't like it," Bella snorted. "I used to love Arizona. I would stay inside, obviously, but that was as far as that went. It was just beautiful down there. But when I moved to Forks, the rain grows on you. And it's also really, really green. Honestly, it's just gorgeous up here. I could stay here for the rest of my life." He seemed intrigued. "But Florida, that's a whole different ballpark. It's not desert, but it's not that green, either. My step-dad and mom live in the city, so it's cement everywhere, loudness everywhere. Forks is like a tranquil getaway."

"So you like it up here then?"

"I love it. Which I never expected, first coming here."

"Good," he smiled, and he blinked, continuing. "I mean, that's good, that you like it."

"Have you lived anywhere else but La Push?"

"Born, raised, bred," he said with a shrug. "I never really wanted to leave in the first place, but now I can't, with the pack and being Chief. Which is alright. I don't mind. The place is home. Where my family is, my friends, people I've known my whole life."

"Small towns are dangerous that way. Anyone you run into can have a story of when you're in diapers."

Sam laughed, which was a warm, rich sound that made her feel warm as well. "I scare people too much, but I'm sure one day, it'll happen."

"One day," Bella agreed. "Hopefully I'm nearby to hear it."

Sam's smile seemed to get bigger. "I hope so too."

Bella flushed, and glanced down towards the basket of food that had been brought while they were talking. It was nearly empty now, but she picked up a fry and bit from it. "What time do you have to leave for class."

A feeling of panic seized Bella. How long have they been talking for? But when she pressed the button on her phone, she saw that she still had a half hour. "Half hour," Bella said, glancing up. She sank a little into her seat in relief. "I thought I was late."

"Sorry."

Bella shrugged. "I could deal with missing one class." She played with another fry. "So, Leah has been telling me that you've been thinking about this for a while. I don't know, I didn't know you were interested in me."

Sam bit his lip, as if he was trying to stop from chewing on it. "Hard not to be. And when you were in the kitchen, it was a good opportunity to ask." Bella blinked a bit, in confusion. "I was going to try the bonfire before, but you left early. And the bonfire before that, but you went cliff diving with Jake, so I didn't get a chance."

"Oh, wow" Bella admitted. "I'm sorry."

"You've got a big heart, and a nice smile, and a great personality." Bella flushed. "I like you."

"I don't do anything easy," Bella warned. "It's always got to be something dramatic that pops up in my life."

"My first clue was that leech," Sam admitted.

"Which one?" Bella laughed.

"Good point."

Twenty minutes later, they said their goodbyes, Bella giving him a hug - which he was great at, by the way - and a quick kiss to his cheek. "See you later, most likely. I practically live at the res," Bella said.

"Yeah, I'll see you, then."

As she got into her truck, she was surprised to see him getting into his own. "You didn't run?"

"Didn't want to be all sweaty and naked. Figured it was too soon for that," Sam returned, and there was humor in his expression.

Bella, though, laughed, shutting her truck door and giving him a smirk. "I've seen plenty of you guys running around. It wouldn't have been that big of a surprise." She pulled out of the lot with a wave, and him laughing as he started up his own truck.

And as soon as she got to campus, that was when it really hit her. If she saw him again, and that led to another date, and another… well, she'd have to tell him about everything. Not everything, but about the baby, which would make him ask questions about everything. She texted Leah.

"It went great. Nice little deli, talked for about two hours. Loving it. Got class now, but ttyl."

Leah never responded. So Bella grabbed her bag and headed to class, worried, now, too, that Leah wasn't as cool with it as she promised.

But it turned out, Leah was waiting at her house when she got home, impatiently tapping her foot and staring at Bella. "That's it? That's all I got? It was great? Loving it? That's it? It's been killing me for hours!"

"Sorry…?" Bella entered her house and set her bag down. "You wanted more?"

"Well, now I got the whole thing. Sam wouldn't stop thinking about it during patrols - which he was late for, by the way. By an hour-"

Bella winced. "Oops… I didn't know he had patrol. He never said-"

"And probably screw up the date with you? Definitely not going to risk that." Bella blinked at her, confused. "Don't worry, he's been thinking none stop of how nice your laugh was, how pretty your eyes were, what you wore. I've been living your date for hours. Which it was fantastic, don't get me wrong. You guys connected."

"He's… pretty cool. I like him."

"Good. He's completely smitten."

"Since when?" Bella snorted. "Please, I doubt he's even noticed me until a week ago."

"Whatever," Leah snorted. "How does Charlie feel about the date?"

"It was one date. If we go on another one, I'll tell Charlie."

"You realize you'll have to tell Sam eventually, right?"

Bella swallowed. "Yeah." She gave a sigh. "And the odds Sam skips town. Yeah, pretty high. It's all I've been thinking about since I left the deli." Bella crossed her arms. "Let's face it. Once word gets out, I'll never get a date again. No one wants to date the girl that's pregnant."

"Look at it this way, you can have as much sex as you want and nothing can really happen," Leah admitted.

Bella rolled her eyes. "You're impossible." She chewed on her lip. "Sam's great. I know he is. I mean, he's a firefighter, and chief, and alpha, and he's got a lot of responsibility. Does he need more responsibility? No." Leah rolled her eyes. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Bella, I think you're underestimating how much Sam actually cares."

"And if he learns I'm pregnant, what if he just decides to stick around out of pity?"

"And now you're seriously underestimating him. Seriously, you just said that the date was nice."

"And it'll stay nice, probably, until the truth is out."

"Maybe you should tell Sam."

"No. I have to tell Jake first, and then Sam. Jake is my best friend. If I didn't tell him... And then Sam. And then everyone else can learn through the grapevine."

"Just don't wait too long."

Bella just nodded. But really, she didn't know how long was too long. And would that be when he was completely in love with her, or her with him? And then after the bombshell dropped, it would break both of their hearts.

She really, really didn't want to get her heart broken again. "I won't," Bella promised Leah, but it was hallow. Now, she'd have to worry about not just Jake, but how Sam felt about it too. And with the tempers… great. Just absolutely peachy.


	7. Telling

It wasn't even two days later when she got a text from Sam. "Wanna hang out again?" Bella stared at it for what felt like hours, a mixture of both excitement and dread in her stomach. She should tell him no. She should end it now to save them both the trouble later. Save them both the heartache. Save Bella the pain of the imprint if he would ever imprint, and him the burden of the pregnancy.

But her fingers didn't obey. "Sure. Have an idea?"

"It's a surprise." Bella wasn't sure about that. Her past experiences with surprises had been things she hated - birthday parties, near death experiences, being vampires.

"I don't like surprises," she texted Sam.

Not even a second later, there was a response. "Well, then it's a picnic. Just us." Oh. That… actually didn't sound too bad. She stared at it, waiting to think up a response. He had told her the surprise? That thought struck her immediately. He didn't try to insist that she'd like it. He didn't try to convince her that she should just wait and see. She admitted that she didn't like surprises, and he told her immediately. It was… unusual. But also appreciated.

"Oh. That sounds great, actually!" Bella responded.

"Meet me at my house six o'clock tonight?"

"Showering now."

And she was already moving towards the bathroom. Six o'clock was in just a few hours. And she had no idea what she'd wear. Maybe she needed to emergency call Leah. After the shower.

She spent a great deal of time making sure that she was smooth - smooth legs, smooth armpits, and as tame of eyebrows as she could achieve. Once she got out of the shower, she decided to blow dry, and even that was a hastle. Her mind couldn't decide if she would keep it natural or attempt some curl. She went on natural. Sam was dating her, not someone she was pretending to be.

And so that made the outfit that much easier to pick out. It being a picnic, she'd need practical shoes, and practical clothing. A light jacket, probably pants or capris, and a nice shirt - but nothing too fancy.

By the end, she was pretty impressed with herself for managing to decide on an outfit without changing it ten times. For some reason, Sam made her more conscious of everything than Edward had ever done. Sam made her stomach fill with butterflies and have the urge to throw up, even though she wasn't nauseas. She just needed to see him, it felt like. And then all of this nervousness would go away.

But she had two more hours yet. And that was too much time to kill. So she started dinner for Charlie, and stuck it in the fridge. And then she grabbed her keys, deciding that maybe she'd take a more scenic route to La Push.

By the time she pulled into Sam's lot, the house lights were on and as she approached the door, shoving her keys in her pocket, she couldn't hear a single voice inside. Maybe someone wasn't even home. She knocked and heard footsteps almost rushing to the door, before Sam appeared.

"Hey," Bella greeted, and her nerves seemed to relax a little. "This place is quiet. I almost thought no one was home."

"I had to threaten patrols if anyone was here," Sam snorted. "Uh, come in." And as she was led inside, she immediately noticed a basket on the counter with a lot of food in it. The lid was open so she could see inside, and she raised an eyebrow, glancing to Sam. "I… made extra."

Bella blinked. "You made it?"

"I'm not that helpless. I'm twenty four years old. I can cook for myself."

"Jesus, and here I thought all of the wolves had broken arms," Bella admitted. She considered it. "I'm impressed."

"There's sandwiches, some fruits, vegetables, chips, potato salad and macaroni salad." Bella was seriously, seriously impressed. Sam must have seen the expression on her face because he cleared his throat. "I mean, if that's okay. If there's something you like, I can always-"

"It's great," Bella insisted. "Really. I didn't think anyone would really want a variety, or think of it. I mean, you wolves like your meat."

"I made you turkey," Sam admitted. "You don't really eat ham, that I've seen. But I made some ham ones too, just in case-"

And she was seriously surprised. In a good way. "You notice what I eat?"

"Uh, I can't really help it, but I have good smell when you cook." Oh, right. Wolves. "Sorry, I don't mean to be creepy or anything."

"No, it's not creepy. I'm just surprised. Yeah, turkey's great. Thanks, Sam, for being so thoughtful." He gave an almost relieved smile. "But now I feel like I should have done something."

"No," Sam insisted. "I've got this covered. I was thinking of going to the beach, if that was okay?" Bella nodded immediately. "Awesome. Uh, I'll just get a blanket, then, to put down on the sand." When he returned, Bella offered to carry the blanket, and Sam relinquished it, while carrying the large basket Bella knew was full of food - probably at least ten pounds worth.

"How many sandwiches did you make?"

"Enough to fill me, and enough to probably fill you," Sam chuckled.

"Really hard to do, I'm sure."

"The hardest." Bella giggled, and followed him out the door. Sam didn't bother to lock the deadbolt, just the handle, but Bella knew why once they picked a spot on the beach. Every single inch of first beach had a view of Sam's house. And it promised that if anyone broke in, with his excellent hearing, Sam would be off in a shot and catch the culprit. So, Bella smoothed down the blanket on the sand, a beautiful Indian patterned quilt, and Sam set the basket down in the middle.

Bella sat down, and then Sam, and he opened the basket, pulling almost everything out, except for the sandwiches. Her smile grew the more he pulled out, concentrating immensely on making sure everything was just right.

"So you don't like surprises, huh?" Sam asked, and he glanced up, a twinge of redness on his cheeks as he saw Bella's amused expression.

Bella's smile turned wry. "If the surprise fits me, fine. Picnic, fantastic. But a birthday party or something equally as out of my comfort zone? Absolutely not. A thousand times no. So, surprises are fine, if … the person giving the surprise knows that it will fit me or whatever. But I've just had bad experiences with them, so… I don't like surprises."

"Bad experiences," Sam agreed and his smile dropped a little. "They really didn't know you at all, did they?"

"Well, besides a birthday party I flat out refused, and was dragged to, and the surprise break-up, move, and abandonment," Bella snorted. "I'd say, looking back, no. And they probably didn't even try."

"So was this a good surprise, then?"

Bella gave him a warm smile. "Very good." Her eyes darted to his shirtless torso. "And you kept your word. No shirt."

Sam smiled, and looked a little pleased with himself. "You made a special request, so I did my best to obey."

"It's beautiful here at this hour," Bella admitted, glancing towards the water. "And really quiet and peaceful."

"It's a Wednesday night. No one shows up to the beach on a Wednesday." True. So, Bella decided that instead of embarrassing herself, she'd work on trying his cooking. He wasn't too bad. There was a good variety of fruits and vegetables - a big variety, and they were even cut so that they were in edible bites.

By the time the food was gone, Bella's apprehension made it's rounds, and she shifted slightly during a comfortable silence between them. "What's the point of this, Sam?" Bella asked him. Sam looked up at her, and there was some confusion on his face. "I mean, this - us." She gestured between them. "Why do this?"

"You don't want to?" he asked carefully.

"I just don't see the point, when it will end up just like with what happened with Leah. You'll imprint one day, and if this continues, I'll just be heartbroken, and… I don't want to lead you on either-"

"Imprinting is incredibly rare-"

"But that's why you broke up with Leah. Because you didn't want to hurt her when you did imprint. And … I don't want that either-"

"Bella-"

"And I don't mean to lead you on either. I'm sorry if I did-"

He blinked. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to. I never wanted to make you think you had to-"

"No, I want to," Bella stressed. "But sometimes what you want isn't good for you in the long run. I learned that a lot these past few years." Sam winced slightly. "And I don't want my heart broken again. I don't want to be told that there's someone better, because there will always be someone better. And I just… Don't need it again, Sam."

"And it won't. I'm not going to imprint on-" He blinked suddenly and seemed to sit up straighter. Immediately, Bella was on alert, her heartbeat racing. What did he hear? A vampire? An issue? "What's wrong with your heart beat?"

"What?"

"Your heartbeat," he repeated. "You have…" Bella swallowed. Oh no. "I noticed it, but it's never been this… distinct. I thought it was maybe a different pattern, but … Bella, you have a fast beat and a slower one."

"I…" Bella felt like her throat was dry and Sam seemed to understand as she struggled to say something. "I just… It's not fair to … to continue doing this when we're both going to end up heartbroken if it continues."

"There's someone else, isn't there?" Sam asked. His eyes darted over her body, seeming to hover over her stomach before he met her eyes.

"What?" Bella asked, confused. "No. It doesn't feel right… you know? Because, if this every becomes anything, then it's going to seriously alter not just my life, but it would be yours too, and I don't want you to feel like you have to do something, because you don't - you absolutely don't. And I'm not telling you because I want you to, but you deserve to know this, I guess. And I was going to tell Jake, but I never got a chance to… to tell him. I thought I'd have more time. And-"

"Are you in trouble?" Sam asked. "A boyfriend in Jacksonville or something that hurt you?" Bella shook her head quickly. "But you had the bruise on your arm when we went cliff diving. And it was definitely a hand print- Did that shithead come back and hurt you-"

"No," Bella insisted. "No one came back. And there's no boyfriend or anything in Jacksonville that I like. I don't ever want to go back to Jacksonville," she finished quietly.

"Those bruises, though-" Sam froze and his form seemed to be shaking slightly. "Please, please tell me that you weren't forced into anything."

Bella dropped her gaze, shrugging uncomfortably, and he cursed under his breath. She glanced up quickly as he stood, and took a few steps away from her. Quickly, she got to her feet, and took a step towards him, but Sam held a hand out to her. "Don't get too close. I'm barely holding on, Bella," Sam ordered. And she could feel the order, like she was a member of the pack, being forced to obey.

After a few seconds, she had enough of her own wits to take another step closer to him. "Please, don't phase. We're in public and anyone could see you, and that's a headline I don't think you want. I'm not hurt or anything. I'm fine now. I live here now."

"Please don't tell me it was some boyfriend that you trusted and-"

"No," Bella insisted. "No, it wasn't. I don't have trust issues, if that's what you're getting to. Well, I mean, I do, but not because of this. That mostly has to do with Edward and his whole 'I'm going to break your heart' thing, but ..." She winced as his shaking seemed to get worse, and his form seemed to pulsate with his struggle for control. "Sorry, probably not a good time to bring him up."

"Who was it? I mean, did you know them? Or... Are they going to come looking for you, like... a stalker thing?"

Bella frowned. "No, I don't think so. He knows where I am." Sam let out a growl. Bella reached an arm out to touch his arm, and it only worked just enough to stop his huffs of hot breath. "Sam… He's not going to come here. He couldn't without making what he did to me obvious and that's the last thing he wants."

He tried to stop the shaking, clenching his fists and squeezing his eyes shut. "So, who was it?"

He looked like he was going to phase. "My step-dad." She took a step back when his form started to blur. "But it's over now. I'm fine. Sam, please calm down."

He tried. She could see him trying to calm down by taking a deep breath, but it wasn't working. He was incredibly angry, and she knew it wasn't directed at her. She knew it was for Phil. But when he exploded into his wolf, she only managed to scramble back to avoid the blow, and she saw the wolf laying on the ground, its paws digging into the sand as its ears fell back. And he was whimpering, his breath coming out in puffs.

She waited a moment, before moving towards him. "Sam..." She knelt down and placed her hand on his head, between his ears. His eyes opened and looked up at her and he whimpered. "It's okay," she said with a small smile. "I know. It makes me upset too, but I'm fine." She sat down in the sand in front of him. "I suppose this means that when you turn back, you'll be naked."

His teeth showed, and he seemed to be grinning.

"I'll go get you some clothes," she sighed dramatically. "If that's okay, of course," she hastily corrected. "I mean, it's your house-"

He got to his feet and he practically towered over her as he moved towards the scraps of his snorts. His nose rubbed it for a second before he picked it up between his teeth and dropped it in her lap. She heard the jingling of keys and then Sam started licking at his fur, sand embedded on his tongue from his shorts.

She giggled. "Go wash it out in the water." He growled and lumbered off, making Bella laugh quietly. Glancing around them, La Push was pretty deserted. And it was getting so dark out, that it was probably nearly impossible to see him anyway. She didn't want the police to be called about a giant wolf at the beach.

Sam's home wasn't far. It had an excellent view of the beach from the front, and the forest from the back. She fingered the keys, trying to find the one for the front door, and when she found it, felt a bit nervous as she slid it in the lock and pulled open the door. The home was warm, and she found that after an extent of time on the chilly beach, it was welcoming. She didn't exactly know where Sam's bedroom was, but it didn't take long to find - there weren't many doors to choose from. It was at the end of the hall, and it had a beautiful view of both the sea and the forest.

She didn't spend any longer than a second admiring it, nor noting how neat it was for a man's bedroom. A closet showed some shirts and a shelf near her knee height had folded shorts. A lot of them. She supposed that he did have a need for them.

She grabbed the shorts and hesitated over the shirt, but figured it'd be weird if she didn't. And then she debated a minute longer over whether or not shoes would be a good idea. Considering he shredded the last pair he was wearing, probably. So she grabbed a matching pair of leather flip flops that he had been wearing earlier in the week.

Moving to leave, she shut his bedroom door quietly, before jumping in fright as she turned around. A giant black wolf was standing in the living room, and staring at her, with its teeth showing and a tongue drooping. "God, you're so quiet!" Bella cried, giggling as her free hand went to her heart, to stop it from beating so fast. Bella moved towards the dining room table, setting the clothes down, before she turned around, covering her eyes with both of her hands. "I'm sorry… that your clothes got ruined."

"As you've seen in my closet, I've got plenty more," Sam returned smoothly. "I'm sorry for phasing. My anger got the best of me."

"No. Please, don't apologize. I knew you'd be upset. Any decent person would be, at least. And, I shouldn't have just sprung it on you like that." Bella gave a small laugh, dropping her hands from her eyes, but didn't turn around. "I was going to tell Jake first, but I didn't have the opportunity and… when you asked… well, I couldn't lie to you either."

"Jake was … on patrol when I phased. And I'm very positive he heard my thoughts in his head." Bella winced, and her eyes were still squeezed shut. "Sorry, I just-"

"No, it's not your fault that pack mind works like that."

"You can turn around." Bella did so, biting her lip as he stood there, so she could just his appearance for herself. Bella narrowed her eyes critically.

"You know, I think it's definitely an agreement that the shirt doesn't work. You're better without it." Sam gave a small laugh, and Bella gave a brief smile before it turned serious. "Um, Sam… this news… no one else knows but Leah and Charlie, and you. And, I guess Jake, now."

"And Paul. He was on patrol too."

Bella winced. "Paul. Great."

"I know you two don't see eye to eye, but Paul... he's not as bad as he seems."

"I know," Bella said with a small smile. "He's all talk and no bite. You can tell him I said that, too." Sam raised an eyebrow. "But if one of the pack knows, the rest of the pack knows. And... that means everyone I care about telling knows. Except for Sue and Billy, but... I don't think I can tell them for some time. Just… word can't get back to Renee and Phil. I don't care who you have to Alpha order for that, but please, make sure it doesn't get back to them."

And while she knew Sam was listening, he wasn't paying much attention. His eyes zeroed in on her arm, and he wouldn't look away, his body stiff. "What's that?" Bella glanced around, seeing only a few picture frames behind her, straight, and facing the right direction. "No, on your arm?" Bella glanced down, seeing a thin red line trickling down her arm. A minor cut, if anything, that looked more like a long paper cut than anything. "Oh, God… I phased too close to you." Sam seemed to be freaking out.

"It's fine," Bella insisted. "It's just a scratch. I've had worse-"

But Sam wasn't listening. Instead, he turned a few shades paler and looked absolutely horrified with himself. "I'm so sorry. We need to go to the hospital. Get that stitched up-"

Jesus Christ. Bella stepped towards him, grabbing his arm and he seemed to snap out of the stupor just enough to listen to her. "Sam! Honest. It's just a scratch. I'm fine."

Sam swallowed, and his eyes looked absolutely devastated. It made a pit appear in Bella's stomach. "I'm no better than him. You trusted me enough to tell you this stuff, and I hurt you-"

"Sam-" but he was already moving towards the kitchen, digging through cabinets. She followed. "You're nothing like Phil. This was an accident. And it's not that bad. It's just a scratch." Bella looked at it again, to make sure, and it was just a scratch. Like a cat clawed her. "It just needs a bandaid, or even a rinse under some water. It's not life threatening." But by the time she looked up, he was pulling a first aid kit out of the cabinet over the fridge, and she gave him a look, but he seemed to ignore it. So, Bella hoisted herself up onto the counter, deciding it would be easier to let him play nurse, than to fight it further.

By the time he put an alcohol pad on it, it wasn't even bleeding anymore. It just stung, which he apologized profusely for. And he stuck a bandaid over the wound, covering it completely. "There. See?" Sam let out a breath, as if satisfied. "I'm fine." And he relaxed slightly as she took his hands. "I know you'd never hurt me on purpose. I know none of the pack would."

"I could have killed you if you had been one step closer."

"But you didn't," Bella insisted.

"Have you ever heard of Emily? Leah's cousin?" Bella frowned, shaking her head. "You'll meet her soon enough, probably. She lives in the Makah reservation, with her family. But she came down here to visit Leah and Seth, with Claire, her cousin. And it was right after Paul first phased. Well, Paul imprinted on her." Bella raised her eyebrows in surprise. "And everything was going great until she told him she was going back to Makah, where she lived. But they could keep in touch. Well, Paul phased."

"Of course he did," Bella said carefully.

"And he tore her face, her arms, everything on the left side up." Bella gasped quietly. "She was in the hospital for a few days, and Billy made the story up that she ran into a bear while taking out the trash. She knows that Paul didn't mean to do it, that was an accident, but Paul was a mess. And she's stayed in Makah ever since. But she's due to come down here for Christmas, and Paul's… well, he's on edge. And if I ever did that to you… I would never forgive myself."

"Does she know about the imprint, then? Or… just the wolf thing?"

"All of it," Sam admitted. "I told it to her after she got out of the hospital." Bella swallowed. "I just… I'm sorry I phased so close to you. I'm sorry I couldn't control myself enough to keep you safe-"

"It was just a scratch," Bella insisted. "And I know that it's not that bad, and that it could have been worse, but it wasn't. And besides, I think the leech from cliff diving did a lot more damage than you did." Her smile dropped as she looked at the large hands she was holding. "I don't know what to do now, after all of this. And before I kept stringing you along, you deserved to know about all of this. Because … it's just… I don't know." He gave a considering look, as if thinking of something to say. "I can't imagine how much of a whirlwind this is. I mean, I can, but-"

"Thank you for giving me the heads up that you'll be getting a bit bigger."

It was such a strange, and unexpected comment that she snorted out a laugh, smacking his chest. "It's not getting bigger. It's… well… like I swallowed a planet or something." He gave her a look that clearly stated there wasn't much of a difference. "I'm sorry you got angry."

"I wasn't angry at you," Sam said quietly. But she could feel the tremors on his skin again as he held her hand tightly. "I'm angry at him. At how he could hurt you for so long and get away with it. Charlie knows?"

She nodded. "He threatened to hang him by his toes from the Space Needle." Bella swallowed. "Phil can't find out I told anyone. Not until there's enough proof to put him behind bars. He's threatened to hurt Renee, if anyone finds out..." She glanced down to his shirt covered chest. "So I don't care if you have to Alpha order the pack to never talk to anyone else about it... No one else can find out except for those I trust." Sam gave a nod in her peripheral vision. "I don't want to risk my mom. And it sucks, I know. But... we'll get enough proof to get him away from her. I'm sure of it."

His tremors lessened slightly. "I promise not to tell anyone or... let anyone tell anyone. It's your business, and .. it'll stay your business."

She gave a sigh of relief and hugged him around the middle, his body so warm against her cheek. "Thank you." His arms tightened around her and she smiled softly. "You're an amazing man, Sam. I mean it."

"Definitely not as amazing as you," Sam said quietly. She nearly snorted at that, but did roll her eyes.

"Man, huh?"

"You know what I mean."

Once Sam calmed down enough, they went back to the beach to collect the basket, blanket, and his torn clothes. They took the items to Sam's house, and Bella and Sam worked, giggling and elbowing, on trying to piece his clothing back together to see if all of the pieces were there. Nearly all of them were. "Where's the zipper?" Bella asked after they ran out of pieces.

"This was everything on the beach."

Bella stared at it, before looking towards Sam. "What if it's like… embedded in your skin? You have a zipper armpit or something."

Sam immediately checked, sending Bella into a fit of giggles. "What if mid-phase, it got swallowed or something?"

"Phasing sounds like it really sucks," Bella said with a laugh. Her eyes looked over the shredded clothing and back to Sam. "Ouch."

Sam smirked, glancing to Bella. "I guess we'll find out."

"Ugh, gross. You're worse than Jake." Bella elbowed him hard, and probably only managed to bruise her own elbow. "You're pretty clean, for a bachelor. It's nice. Have you seen Jake's room?"

"Oh yeah. That's why I clean."

"Almighty Alpha is a pretty good dog to adopt, it seems," Bella admitted.

"Jake and Paul want to come over after patrols."

Bella groaned, turning around and heading towards the kitchen. "I'll make spaghetti for them. I think it's pretty much all you guys haven't eaten so far." She only managed to make it a few steps, before Sam took her hand from her side, turning her around to face him.

"Are you alright?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I appreciate you being concerned. And … things are only going to get better for me. I'm sorry if … this doesn't make things better for you." Sam gave her a wry smile. "But I guess either way, things will be okay."

"You know, I think everything's going to be okay," Sam admitted. "And… I just need to process it better, but I don't see any issues with this."

Bella felt a bit of hope well up in her. "There's still the matter of the whole imprinting thing."

"But that's-"

The front door slamming open interrupted whatever Sam was going to say, and Paul strode through, giving a grunt in greeting to Bella, before pushing Sam back towards the living room. Jake walked through, with an easy smile for Bella, before eyeing the two other boys.

"I'm making spaghetti for you guys," Bella said carefully.

"Awesome," Paul said flatly. His eyes didn't leave Sam, and they seemed to be communicating to each other wordlessly. "Jake, why don't we step outside and talk?"

"Yeah…" Jake glanced to Bella worriedly. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine." But Bella was more worried about what they were going to talk about. They disappeared out the back door so that Bella could see them, but couldn't hear them. Sam was pretty in control, but she could see Jake and Paul close to phasing.

Sam seemed to be explaining everything, which Bella didn't mind, just the fact that Paul was listening, made her a bit apprehensive. But Jake… Jake she'd have to talk to alone whenever she could get the chance.

By the time they came inside, Bella was busying herself with dumping the pasta in, and they settled on the couch, Sam getting a beer from the fridge for himself and Paul, when Bella's phone chirped. She pulled it out, surprised, reading it. It was from Sam. "Sorry this didn't end so hot. I'll have to make it up to you."

Sam glanced towards her, and she could see his phone in his hand, as well as two beers, and a smile on his face. Bella smiled, back, before giving a nod. "Sounds good," she texted back. Jake joined her in the kitchen, though, leaning on the counter as he watched Bella stir.

"Crazy day."

"Could have been better," Bella agreed quietly. She swallowed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you myself. I actually meant to talk to you, but I kept chickening out-"

"It's a good thing you told Sam first," Jake admitted. "I probably would have phased." Bella was going to say that Sam had too, but she got the feeling that he would have had more difficulties controlling his phase than Sam did. "He says he got you?"

Bella lifted her sleeve a little to show him the bandaid, and gave Jake and eye-roll, before turning back to the pot. "I've had worse."

"Get outside, Swan," Paul snapped. Bella jumped, looking up from the pasta she was stirring. "Now, Swan."

"I'm busy, asshat. Why don't you tackle someone that won't break in half, like Jake?" Bella suggested swiftly.

"Because I don't want to tackle anyone," he snapped. "Have one of the little twerps work on the food. Get your ass out here."

"Paul," Sam warned. "Why don't you calm down?" And while it was a suggestion, the order was there. Bella glanced between them.

"I'm not going to fucking hurt her," Paul snorted. "You coming or not, Swan?"

Bella bit her lip, glancing to Jake and Sam, and Jake sighed, before standing and moving to the stove. "Might as well, loca. Don't worry, he'll get his ass kicked if he hurts you."

Bella bit her lip nervously, but agreed to follow him to the backyard. There were claw marks in the yard, and piles of dirt where she could tell the boys have fought in the last few days since she had last been out there. Fought about what? "What is this for? Because I don't want to see you naked, thank you very much."

"You're fucked up, Swan, but I'm not showing you anything. That's for later in the relationship." Bella rolled her eyes and he grabbed her arm, though not as forcefully as she thought, and moved her, using his shoes to adjust her legs. One was forward, the other back.

"What are you doing?"

"Punch me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Disney was right. Dreams do come true."

"Shut the fuck up, Swan. And punch me."

She blinked at him. "You're serious?"

"Obviously, idiot. Now punch me."

"Paul!" Sam snapped from the back door, and Bella glanced back to him, to see him standing in the doorway, arms crossed, but ready to intervene. Bella looked back to Paul, who was staring at her, exasperated, it seemed.

"Just do it, Swan."

Bella stared at him for a minute before she swung. He caught it easily before it even hit him. "Pathetic." She raised an eyebrow in confusion. Uncurling her fingers, he began to curl them again a different way.

"Holding hands? We're going a little too fast, there."

Paul snorted. "Like I'd ever date a leech-lover." He let go of her hand and Bella glanced at it. "How does that feel?"

"Like a fist?"

"Wow, you really are a genius," Paul said dryly. "Now punch me again."

"Twice in a day? This must be heaven."

"Swan!" he snapped.

She swung, and it connected with the solid mass of muscle that was his ribs. "Now what?"

"Wow, Swan. You're even weaker than I thought."

She stared at him. "Now what?" she repeated a bit more forcefully.

"You could actually try to put some force into it, you know."

"I did."

"What a whimp." He sighed as if a burden was placed on him. "Well, do it again, putting everything you've got into it. Go for the face."

"Christmas did come early." She did as he asked, seeming to get what this was about. This was because of what Sam had told them. This was something he was doing because of Phil. And something that he was doing of his own free will to help her. He felt along his jaw after he took a step back and seemed to consider the magnitude of the punch. "Yeah, we'll work on that." Work on it? "If I grab you, what do you do?"

She blinked. "Tell Sam, and he'll kick your ass."

Paul winced. "Okay, I mean, if I wasn't in the pack. If I was a pale face."

Bella shrugged. "Try to get away."

"Doing?"

"Whatever it took." She stared at Paul. "I know how to get away from someone, Paul. My mom had me take self-defense classes when I turned fourteen."

"And you still let this shit happen?" Paul snapped, seemingly frustrated.

Bella hesitated. "It's not like he'd just grab me and pull me into a room. He would usually just get me when I was sleeping or something. That's how it started." Paul growled and Bella shifted slightly, taking a step away from him. What Sam told her about Emily came to mind. "And then my bedroom lock somehow broke, so I couldn't use it. And then he told Renee he fixed it, but he didn't. And by then, he promised me it would be a lot worse if I fought. And I knew it would be."

Paul just stared at her as if in disbelief before grunting and then he moved onto to something else. Things like how to put some weight behind things. How to scream for help and what to say.

"Thanks, Paul."

"Whatever, Swan."

But she did appreciate it, even if he was a dick to her sometimes.

By the time they went back into the house, Bella was a little sweaty from Paul instructing her on how "not to be a little bitch," Sam had somehow disappeared, as had Jake. And the pasta was off of the burner. Not exactly done, but it'd do. The wolves ate everything.

"Where did everyone go?"

"Phased twenty minutes ago," Paul said, sitting on the counter. Bella was surprised it didn't crumble under his weight. "You good?"

Bella shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I don't see how I'm going to need it."

"You could run into a lot of bastards. But I'm fucking starving. Can we eat?"

"Well, I've got to make the meat and sauce, still. I was about to do that, but you insisted on taking me outside."

"Well, sorry for teaching you valuable skills."

Her phone chirped and Bella glanced at it. Leah. "About to go on patrol. Meet you at Sam's in two hours?" Bella just responded that it was fine, and worked on finishing the meal before she went to her truck, glancing around to the woods, as if she'd see a few wolves. Grabbing her school bag, Bella headed back inside, across from Paul, and started on her homework, glancing up occasionally as Paul would head into the kitchen to make himself another serving.

Bella didn't remember falling asleep, but she was woken up by a sharp crash in the kitchen, and she surged into an upright position, gasping. Paul was at the sink, tossing all of the dirty dishes into it before he moved towards the table, not bothering to wash them. "What time is it?"

"Nearly one in the morning."

She cursed, and Paul snorted at hearing it. "Charlie's going to kill me."

"So… there's a little leech inside of you?"

"A human being," Bella returned more sharply than she intended. Paul didn't seem to notice. "But yes."

"Well shit. I didn't know you had it in you, Swan."

"Sam could hear the heartbeat."

"I just thought you were weird." Bella felt herself go a few shades pale.

"You could hear the heartbeat, too?"

"Uh, yeah. We all could. I mean, Leah insisted it was nothing. Probably just residual echo from someone nearby, you know? Whatever the fuck that is. But yeah… not exactly a secret."

Bella groaned. "Wonderful. And how soon will this spread to the pack?"

"Once it gets to Seth? Everyone will know." Wonderful. Bella glanced around. "Did Leah ever show up?"

"No. She's still on patrol. Sam's really laying into her for not telling him any hint of anything like that. He's royally pissed off, you know, because of everything."

Bella thought he was, and even Jake. "Do you know when Leah will get off? She wanted to meet up with me."

Paul shrugged and Bella just rolled her eyes, grabbing her phone and calling Charlie. "Hey, dad, sorry. I just wanted to let you know that Leah wants me to meet with her in a few minutes at her place, so I'm going to be with her tonight."

"Sure, kiddo. Just keep me posted if things change. And don't drive tired."

"I know, dad. Goodnight. I love you."

"Love you too." And Charlie hung up immediately, and Bella sighed, glancing down at the books in front of her. She needed to work on her homework or else she'd never finish it in time for tomorrow.

"How far along are you?" Paul asked suddenly.

"About three months by my birthday."

Paul raised an eyebrow but nodded. Bella managed to stay awake for a few more minutes, before she fell asleep again. She didn't even manage to make it through her reading for her book for English.

The next time Bella jerked awake, it was her own doing, and she grabbed her phone, checking the time. Four in the morning, and no calls or texts from Leah. Which was unusual. Maybe Leah forgot? And she was still at Sam's house at four in the morning… Jesus. She needed to leave. That was weird. She packed up her bag, grabbing her keys, and nearly tripping over a form on the floor. A wolf, she was certain of.

Paul. She didn't know what he was doing on the floor, but he looked incredibly uncomfortable. She nudged his leg with her foot. "Paul?" He grunted. "Paul? Get up." Oh, for heaven's sake. She climbed over him, nearly tripping in the process, and managed to get to the door when he flopped over, knocking into the table. He jerked awake immediately, getting to his feet.

"What the hell?"

"Morning, Fido," Bella remarked, opening the door.

"Why the fuck did you wake me up?"

"You woke yourself up. I'm just leaving. It's four am. Go home, mutt."

Paul shrugged, moving towards the living room. "No use now. Got patrols in two hours. Might as well get comfy, Swan."

"I'm going home."

"And have you drive in this storm? Jake and Sam would kill me." Bella frowned, opening the front door and seeing the blast of rain and lightning that was clashing outside. "Grab a couch, Swan."

Sleeping at Sam's was… well, a little weird. "Maybe I should just drive to Leah's-"

"Still on patrol. Sam and Jake are a little… mad."

Oh. Bella sighed and shut the door, moving towards the living room and sitting down on the couch adjacent to Paul. A nice quilt was thrown over the back of it, giving her plenty of warmth in the chilly La Push night.

"Paul, I know I'm the leech-lover and everything, but… can I ask you something?"

"Fucking hell, Swan, I'm trying to sleep." He was quiet a minute. "Spit it out, Swan. I'm not staying up for five minutes."

"Does Sam think him scratching me is him being Phil, or him hurting me as badly as Emily?" Paul went rigid immediately.

"What the fuck did Sam tell you?"

"Just… how she was going to go back to Makah to live for a while, and … you phased too close. That's all."

Paul growled under his breath. "He had no fucking right."

"Sam's your best friend," Bella said simply. "And you're his. Though, I don't see why you're so great." Paul snarled at her. "I don't want Sam to get all self-depreciative. That's what Edward did and I hated it. I hated it when he blamed everything on himself."

"Sam's just worried he hurt you like I did Emily," Paul answered in a fast breath. "He'll get over it once the cut heals."

Bella gave a relieved sigh. "And he won't mind if I stay here until morning, will he?"

"Probably give me a day off of patrols for being so considerate."

"Don't worry, I know the truth. You're just looking out for your own tail." Paul snorted and Bella shut her eyes, leaning back on the couch until she was curled up. And then she did sleep, well until her phone went off that morning to wake her up for school. Paul snored right through it, even though Bella was sure he had patrols at six. He had said so last night. So Bella kicked him awake and then darted out the front door before he could get angry. She had enough to worry about.


	8. Imprinting

Jake was waiting for her at her car that morning, and Bella gave him a strange look before getting into the cab. Jake got onto the passenger side. "What's up?" Bella questioned, turning the truck on. Jake shifted slightly, turning down the heat until it was on the lowest possible setting. She supposed he was a personal space heater.

"Sorry I.. kind of bailed on you yesterday."

Bella blinked at him. "Bailed on me?"

"Avoided you, after I saw what happened in Sam's head… I just… didn't want to phase. So I didn't want to get too close. But after spending the night running with Sam, I'm great."

"Well, good. You're best friend number one, by the way, because Leah really did bail on me last night." Bella turned, so that she was heading towards Port Angeles and Jake rolled down the window slightly, to get cool air into the cabin.

"She showed up to patrols, and saw that it was complete chaos. Sam was so angry he could barely think, and I was trying to calm myself down, and Leah… well, she tried to calm us down, and told us what she knew, and that just made us even more pissed off. Really, Bella? Years and years of this?"

Bella shifted slightly. "I don't know what to tell you."

"How about three years earlier when you show up for your junior year? I mean… how could it have gotten this far and no one know?"

"I got good at hiding it."

Jake was quiet for a few minutes, and Bella itched to turn on the radio. But just when she was about to, he started to speak. "So… are you keeping the baby then?"

Bella nodded. "At first, it was a little surreal. I didn't really believe it. But the more I thought about it, and my doctor's appointment and everything, the more on board I was with the idea. It's still weird, and I have no idea what I'm actually going to do - I can't have a baby on top of school, work, and feeding the dogs duty," Bella admitted. She sank back in her seat, turning onto another road. "It's just… I don't know yet. But I guess I'll figure it out."

"I'll do whatever I can to help. If you need a babysitter and school doesn't interfere, I'm there."

Bella glanced at him suddenly. "Speaking of school, shouldn't you be there?"

"Teacher work day." Uh huh. Sure. "But I'm serious."

"I know you are. Thank you."

"Sam's… got some issue with everything," Jake admitted. Bella figured. No matter what Sam said last night, she doubted that feeling would last past much of the initial moment. He was freaked, and he was running for the hills - perhaps literally. "But everything's fine."

"Sure."

"He's really, really upset he almost phased too close to you."

"He didn't hurt me."

"But he lost control, Bella." Oh. That was probably… a huge thing to him. "He's never lost control except for his first phase," Jake stressed. "And he's really, really worried that he'll lose control again. And he can't let that happen. Especially to you."

"He'll dump me to get rid of the drama and the baggage, and then he'll slowly turn the pack friends I have away from me. And I'll be flying solo in Forks."

"Uh… I don't think that's what's going to happen. Sam's definitely not that kind of guy. The leech, maybe, but Sam?" Bella shrugged and gripped the steering wheel.

"Why are you following me to Port Angeles, anyway? I'm not driving you back."

"Thought it'd be a good place to talk. I'm running patrols around Forks so this isn't a big deal." Oh. Bella shrugged. Jake stared at her, and Bella pointedly stared at the road, doing her best to ignore it. "Sam explained to us all this morning at a pack meeting that no one is to say anything to anyone, unless they're pack or your dad." Bella only slightly relaxed. "Phil won't know about this until there's a plan."

"I can't get Renee out of there unless I go there," Bella explained. "And going there would expose the secret. So… I'm kind of stuck."

"We'll help you. I mean, you've got practically fifteen of us at your beck and call, trying to be number one lap dog." Bella snorted. "And I'm only six remember? I only keep secrets if I pinkie promise."

She relinquished one hand, holding out her pinkie. "Fine." Jake grinned widely at her, locking pinkies. "Don't get any ideas about shedding all over my car, though. I don't want dog hair."

"You're no fun." Bella just stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck it back. "So… I guess cliff diving's out."

Bella glanced to him, alarmed. "What? Why?"

"Because you've got an extra load."

Bella frowned slightly, turning back to the road. "Oh. I… actually didn't think about that. I guess so. And motorcycles too."

"Don't worry, Uncle Jake is going to give the rest of the guys a run for their money, when I get ahold of the kid." Bella smiled. Uncle Jake. Yeah, that sounded about right. "Cliff diving, running through the forest, motorcycles."

"If you act as a human helmet, then knock yourselves out," Bella shrugged. "It's your brain and bones that will be broken, not my kid's."

Jake let out a laugh. "Sweet! In that case, we'll go kite boarding-"

"Are you really that excited?"

"Uh… duh," Jake stated plainly. "This is freaking exciting. I mean… sorry, not that cool, and it'll probably hurt or whatever. But I call the fun stuff afterwards."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Well, if the next week goes anything like I imagine, you'll probably be Uncle Jake that's called daddy for the first few years until they learn different faces."

"They?" Jake whispered, and it was almost hoarse. "Please tell me it's not twins."

"No," Bella snorted. "Jesus, Jake, who do you think I am? A baby factory? No! I don't know the gender, so it's a they."

Jake seemed to release a breath in relief. "Good. Because I can't split my time up. My time is much too valuable."

"I feel so honored." Jake sent a wink Bella's way. "How many people get such valuable time?"

"You and dad," Jake said simply. "And sometimes the pack. But sometimes they also piss me off." Bella felt like that happened a lot with all of them. They were brothers, after all. "I know times have been rough, but … you have us now."

"Until you all imprint," Bella pointed out.

"Imprinting is incredibly rare."

"Paul, Jared, and Quil have imprinted," Bella stated simply. "Paul I didn't even know about, but apparently yes. And that's three out of fifteen. That's a fifth of the pack. That's not rare. That's borderline common."

Jake shifted slightly. "Okay, so not that rare. But still, that's three people. In the old packs, there were only just one imprint-"

"Did you guys ever stop to think that the legends don't apply anymore?" Bella returned a little sharper than she intended. "Legends also said that pack numbers grew depending on vampire population. Well, news flash, the vampires are gone. And the pack is still growing. Which means, there's a larger threat out there than the Cullens, or that's not the trigger at all. And if there are more vampires out there, then that's a shitload of vampires, because when it was just the Cullens, you only had three, maybe four wolves. And that was seven vampires."

"Well, yes, but-"

Bella swallowed. "And they'll probably be after me."

"You don't know that-"

"They always are," Bella muttered. The truck gave a particularly loud groan, that made Bella wince, before it began to run smoothly. "You'd better go run patrols, Jake."

"Bella-"

"I'd really rather over analyze things by myself. Thanks." Jake sighed. "Do you want me to pull over?"

"I haven't mastered my James Bond skills, so please." Bella did so, and Jake stared at her a minute. "He's not going to dump you, Bella. Not unless you really wanted to be dumped." Bella wasn't sure about that. Nor sure about why Jake was so confident. "He's worried about you and what you've gone through."

"It's over. I'm here now."

"But you know just as well as I do that there are nightmares about things that haunt you. And I think he's worried that it still haunts you." Oh. Bella swallowed and refused to give Jake the satisfaction that maybe that was a good point. "He's concerned about you. He cares about you."

"We went on two dates, Jake. That's … not exactly googley eyed material."

"I know that but maybe there's more or something. I don't know. I just hate to see you so strung out when it comes to love."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "I'm strung out about love?"

"Bella… you're insisting that he's going to dump you and make all of us hate you. I mean… that's a pretty negative view on it."

She supposed it was. "So you're saying I should hope for the best, even when it's likely to be the worst."

"Now, I think the worst would be Cullen coming back." Bella's eyes widened in alarm. "I'm kidding! God, Bella, it was a joke." Bella didn't find it very funny. "Just … I don't know. Chill for a few days." Chill. Right, she couldn't even cool off for more than a few minutes. "I'll see you later, right?"

"Yeah," Bella shrugged. "I'm heading to Leah's tonight, I think. I'll probably see you then."

"Love you, loca."

"Love you, too, mutt," Bella grinned, and shoving him lightly on the shoulder. He went sprawling out of the truck, obviously him overreacting, and when he righted himself, he shut the door to the truck. "See you later?"

"Bye, Hells Bells and hitchhiker." Bella must have looked confused, because he pointed towards her stomach.

"Name calling? Really? You just found out yesterday."

"Got to get my Uncle game started so it's at it's prime when it's time for the show." Oh, jeez. She just rolled her eyes and pressed on the gas, leaving a werewolf behind.

It turned out that Leah had patrols every night, for the next week, so Bella instead made herself nice and cozy in her room, occasionally visiting the reservation to drop off some food that she knew the boys would eat. She only saw Sam once on those trips, and he had given her a smile before darting outside.

He was avoiding her, acting all nervous and … it made a sinking feeling appear in Bella's stomach. He was not going to do as Jake had insisted. She was sure of that now.

So when she arrived at the bonfire with Leah in her truck, her truck parking at the beach to unload the drinks, she made eye contact with Sam, a few cars down, picking things up out of the back of his truck. Food. It was Kim's night to cook for the bonfire. Sam quickly looked away and headed off towards the beach, not even a smile given to her.

"He's going to let me down easy," Bella predicted as she watched him retreat to the set up on the beach. Leah watching him as well, before glancing at Bella. "We haven't even spoken since the night I told him, and he's freaked out. He's going to decide this isn't worth the time, but he doesn't know how to say it because I'm pregnant. And he doesn't want to be some douche that breaks up with the pregnant girl."

"I don't think he's going to break up with you," Leah said diplomatically. "I believe he's just… got a lot on his mind to process. He phased four times in the last two days just thinking about Phil."

"Really?" Bella asked in surprise.

Leah nodded. "He's just really nervous about how to proceed. He gets all nervous about the most ridiculous shit."

"He doesn't think... that I'm only dating him for the baby, right?" Bella glanced to Leah suddenly, panicked. "Because I'm not. I really do like Sam, and ... I know I can raise the baby on my own-"

"He knows," Leah giggled. "And believe me, we had a long conversation about you." Bella felt herself pale. "He wanted to know your plans on Phil. And he didn't want to ask you because he didn't know if it'd upset you."

"Oh... What did you say?"

"We have pictures, and DNA evidence." Leah glanced to Bella's stomach, before smirking. "I also told him about how you're visiting them for Christmas."

"Oh, no."

"He phased and wouldn't calm down for three hours. I barely finished my sentence."

Bella groaned. "I purposefully left that bit out because I knew he'd phase after he phased the first time." She rammed her head back against her headrest. "When was this?"

"Two days ago. The night I was supposed to meet up with you but I got side tracked." When he had started to avoid her. "He's really worried he might phase near you, too."

"I know he won't."

"But at the rate he's been going, even just thinking about it makes him start to shake." Bella frowned. "Be careful around him. I know he won't hurt you, but anger triggers us to phase." Bella knew that. "Come on."

Bella huffed and tried to lock the doors so they wouldn't be able to get out so soon, but Leah lifted the tab and opened the odor. "Now, Swan, or I will drag Paul over here."

Paul, who had still been acting weird around her. Insisting on pointers for defending herself, whenever one seemed to come to mind. And whenever he wasn't doing that, he was either being his normal self, or quiet. She didn't like it. She missed the old Paul, and she never thought she would say it.

Bella exhaled and opened her door, before slamming the door shut and following Leah - the wolf girl carrying the glass dish full of food Bella had decided to bring. Brownies. When Jake spotted her, she was given a grin and a hug. "How've you been, loca?"

"You saw me yesterday, Jake," Bella said flatly.

"I can still ask how you've been!" Bella rolled her eyes, seeing that the boys were already digging into the food. "You'd better grab some if you want to get anything."

"I'll be elbowed and trampled like it's a Black Friday sale, probably," Bella returned in good humor, before stepping into line in front of Jake. For the life of her, she couldn't spot Sam.

"Kim had more that wouldn't fit in the truck," Jake said quietly from behind her. "He's bringing it." Oh. Right. She flushed slightly, unaware that she had been that obvious, and put more food onto her plate. When they reached the end of the line, Jake had two paper plates balancing precariously on his arm as he grabbed two drinks - one for her and another for himself. He was practically superman.

Or Robin, really. The side-kick to the leader. The thought made her smirk slightly. Jake would not take that lightly. She grabbed a seat at the log, Leah on one side and Jake on the other, and she was pulled into easy conversation, her worries almost disappearing. Almost.

By the time the food was gone, Leah left to go get herself a beer and Jake disappeared to go find Seth. Which left Bella alone. So, she threw her plate away and took the final sip of her soda before tossing that in the trash too.

A hand touched her elbow gently and Bella turned immediately, too surprised to really say anything. "Hey," Sam greeted.

"Hey," Bella returned, a little apprehensive. They hadn't really talked in… what felt like forever, and the fact that he had come up to her, well… it was … weird. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to take a walk with me, on the beach?" Sam continued hesitantly. Like she would say no. A walk? Fuck, the last time she had been asked on a walk, she ended up nearly frozen in the woods and Sam had found her. "To talk. It's been a while."

"And that is because you're avoiding me," she stated simply. "But sure, we can walk to talk."

Maybe she was teasing him, but the serious look melted into an easy smile. "Great."

And so they walked, in the general direction of the cliff, in silence. There was really no talking until they got about halfway to their destination, and Sam cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry if I've been avoiding you. I'm working on the best way to say this, and I still haven't come up with a decent way to phrase it."

"Phrase what?" Bella questioned, and the pit in her stomach seemed to be filled with lead. Here it came.

Sam exhaled and reached out a hand to her, and when Bella's hand met his, he entwined their fingers and stared at them. Bella did as well. His hand was so much bigger than hers. His could have easily cradled a basketball, while Bella's… well, a softball was probably a stretch. He was so much larger than her, yet she didn't find it intimidating or terrifying or… even scary. He was Sam. He was the leader, the protector. He couldn't have been scary. The only time she had heard him raise his voice was when he was trying to order Paul not to phase, nearly a year ago.

"Bella?"

"Sam?" Bella returned, glancing up at him.

"Do you know what imprinting is?"

Oh shit. He had imprinted on someone. That was why he was avoiding her. That was why he had been trying to figure out a way to let her down easy. Because she had already addressed the issue with him. And Jake… how could Jake not know? Unless he did know? And Leah-

"I take it from that expression you do." Bella swallowed, giving a small nod. "Good. So I don't really need to explain it." No, he didn't. But he gripped her hand tighter, as if comforting her. "I want you to know that I had no intention of every asking you on a date until I thought you were ready, and had moved on from Cullen." Bella frowned, slightly, confused.

"But… why does that matter when you've imprinted on someone?"

Sam snorted, and rolled his eyes. "I won't tell Paul you're not connecting the dots here." Bella was still extremely confused. "I imprinted on you."

On her? Sam had imprinted on her? That… was not what she expected this conversation to turn into at all. "Oh… I thought you were trying to break up with me," Bella blurted.

"What?" Sam asked, shocked.

"Well, you wanted to take a walk, you've been nervous around me since you found out about… you know, everything, and I was convinced you were going to break up with me. Leah and Jake kept telling me you were just worried you might phase, but... I sort of would have understood if you did want to break up with me, and when you started talking about the imprint, I thought you had imprinted on someone else-"

"No. No, I don't want to break up with you. Unless you want to break up with me, of course. I just want to be here for you, in any way you may need it."

Bella bit her lip, before looking up from their hands. "So… you aren't breaking up with me?"

"Uh… no."

"Good." She swallowed again and glanced down towards their hands. "And so you imprinted on me? When?"

He shrugged, and Bella felt the hand holding hers loosen it's grip. "The night I found you in the woods. You had been missing for twelve hours, the Chief sent us out to look for you, and Paul and I found you. And I shifted back and said your name, and you opened your eyes just enough to meet mine, and I was a goner."

She felt herself smiling softly. "Probably not the best way to meet."

"No, probably not. I didn't see you for a few months, and I just assumed that you were doing better." Bella winced at that. "When you and Jake started to hang out, I was relieved. So, I would take day patrols, so I could check and see what you guys were up to. And then Victoria started to come around." Bella nodded. "Then we finally officially met."

"That's… wow. I … I didn't even know that… I feel like an awful imprint for not noticing or anything-"

"You wouldn't have," Sam admitted. "The imprint pull… Jake explained it to you. It's not like an immediate connection. It has to be grown, moulded. Do you think Emily likes Paul? Not even I stand Paul sometimes, and we've known each other for twenty years."

"I don't quite understand what this means," Bella admitted. "What does this do? To our relationship?"

"Well, I wanted to go on a few dates, to see if you ever noticed anything. Though, there have been a few curve balls and we definitely need to work on communicating."

"Agreed." Bella relaxed, however, and met his eyes. "But after we fix that? Then what?"

"We can do whatever we want. Date casually, date seriously, be friends, whatever you feel like."

"What do you want?"

Sam seemed to consider the question, and gave a small nod. "I'd like to keep what this is. Going out sometimes, staying in sometimes…" He shrugged. "Whatever we feel like."

"Me too," Bella admitted, and there was a flutter in her stomach, like she was driving down a hill. "I know it's only been like a date and a half, but… I do like you, Sam. and I know I have a lot of baggage - basically a U-haul full, but I would like to continue this and see what happens."

Sam gave her an easy smile, as if relieved. "It's a good thing I can lift heavy bags."

Bella let out a giggle. "Yeah, Superman. Good thing."

"We'll figure everything else out. All of the baby stuff, and the Phil things, we'll figure it out, together if you want, or I can help with a few things, if you want, or whatever you feel like. I just don't want you to think it's an issue for me. It's something I don't really mind. A little soon to be thinking about kids, but why not?"

Bella bit her lip. "How can it not bother you?"

"Because if you're okay with it, I am." And somehow, that made this moment mean a lot to her. Edward… Edward had been the complete opposite. If Bella didn't give a rat's ass, Edward would still be freaking out about it, or wouldn't let it go. And if Bella did care, Edward would insist it was nothing. "I just like how we're honest with each other."

"Me too," Bella said quietly.

"I promised to make up for Sunday night. So, do you want to get breakfast Monday morning?"

"I have to leave for classes by seven thirty. How about Tuesday?"

He nodded immediately. "I can make that work. The diner in Forks?"

Bella smiled. "Perfect."

"Do you still want to walk?"

And they did. They walked down the beach until the bonfire was a distant glow, and climbed over driftwood until they were at the base of the cliffs, watching the waves beat against the cliffside for a few minutes. It was chilly. But Sam kept an arm around her, using his extra wolf warmth to keep her warm. When it started to lightly sprinkle, near freezing rain, Bella turned so that she was facing him, still close enough that she was benefiting from his warmth, and he looked down at her.

"Want to head back? Or enjoy getting wet on a freezing beach?" Bella teased.

"Yeah, we can head back." And he tucked her into himself as they walked back, Bella awkwardly tumbling along under his large form, but feeling ten times warmer already. She was sure some of it was the blush she was sporting. Once the bonfire was only a few yards away, Sam's arm dropped slightly to her waist and Bella looked up to him. Her hair was wet, and his skin, while wet, was warm. She hadn't even thought about the fact that she had been leaning into his bare chest all night.

The wolves walking around with no shirts was just so normal to her, that it didn't even seem weird to be touching them. Or leaning on them. But mostly touching. One hand had been on his rib cage so that she wouldn't trip over him.

"Are you okay with all of this?"

"That some dog is going to be following me around because he thinks that I'll feed him whenever he begs?" Bella asked, a teasing hilt to her voice. "I guess so. It could be worse. You could chew my shoes or pee on my front door."

He laughed, a deep laugh that she could feel under her hand, still on his ribs. That she did not want to move until he forced her to. "Dog jokes? Again?"

Bella shrugged. "What can I say? I had a lot of time on the plane ride from Florida to think some up. And they aren't going to waste."

"Just be careful who you say them too. You might get leech jokes back," Sam said with a small smirk. Bella just rolled her eyes and turned so that her arms moved up to around his neck and she bit her lip, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"You make it really hard to kiss you when you're so tall and you don't meet me half way," Bella admitted after a few seconds. "So, will you be sending me home with a kiss, or no kiss and I'm helping Kim do the dishes?"

Sam seemed to be thinking about it, playfully. "Well, on one hand, I would be keeping you safe by making sure you don't get frostbite. On the other hand… I don't want to help with dishes."

"You are Alpha. You can order someone else to do them for you."

"Mmm. Fair point," Sam agreed.

"And," Bella continued. "As imprint, you have to do whatever you can to make sure I don't get hurt. Frostbite really does sound like it hurts."

He sighed. "I guess. You should be a saleswoman."

Bella smiled. "I'll think on it."

But he did give her a kiss, a gentle yet searing one that not only warmed her lips, but also her entire body. And as he pressed his lips to her own, she found herself becoming nearly lightheaded.

And then she heard the cat calling just a few feet away. Bella felt a flush and Sam stood at his full height, shooting a glare over to the bonfire. The hooting didn't stop. They were honestly four years old. Bella fixed her hair, hoping her blushed wasn't too noticeable and Sam's arm went to her waist. "I'm going to get something to drink. Want anything?"

"Water would be great," Bella admitted. Sam nodded and was off, shoving Jake off of a log as he passed, sending him sprawling into the sand. Well, it looked like they had something in common - shoving Jake. This "whatever we feel like" thing was off to a great start.

Bella moved towards the smores, already made by the younger kids in the pack that weren't ever eaten. Though cold, it was still delicious. Bella had only taken a bite when Sam returned with a water bottle and a small smile. "Legends are about to start."

"Thanks," Bella said, giving the water a shake, and he held out an arm, putting it around her shoulders, and led her to the logs. A seat was saved for them right beside Jared and Kim, and Bella gave them a kind smile as she sat.

"Ugh, it's about time," Kim murmured under her breath towards Bella. "I thought he'd never tell you."

"Tell me what?" Bella asked blankly. The look on Kim' s face was pure terror and Bella immediately felt bad for joking with her. "I'm just kidding, Kim," Bella rushed. "Jesus, you looked like someone was going kill you."

"Sam would have," Kim insisting. "That's not funny, Bella." Bella giggled, and Kim did as well. "So… how did he tell you?"

"By making it sound like we should just be friends, at first," Bella admitted. "But then said it was me he imprinted on."

"So he decided to start the speech from scratch instead of the speech that I've been helping him with for the past few days," Kim giggled. Revising a speech? Jesus. "He was a nervous wreck."

"I didn't know how she'd take it, that was all," Sam said defensively.

"Uh huh." Kim waited until Sam rolled his eyes and glanced towards Bella. "Nervous wreck," she mouthed. Bella laughed quietly, resting the water bottle between her knees. "So," Kim continued. "How does it feel, having a baby?"

It seemed Sam was interested in the question as well. "I don't know. Weird. I mean, I forget about it without really forgetting about it," Bella admitted. "Like… It's easy to ignore, but then when I don't ignore it, there's overwhelming panic because I have no idea what I'm doing. So… it feels like a panic attack rolled in a blanket."

"You're going to be a fantastic mom," Kim said earnestly. "And you get free babysitters, especially with Sam. All it takes is an order and Paul will be on baby watch."

Bella snorted, glancing towards the fire, as the Elders sat down to begin the legends. "That's pointless, when I'd just have to hire a dog sitter."

Kim and Bella dissolved into giggles as Sam did his best to hide his smile. And then Bella listened to the enchanting legends, knowing that by the end of all these bonfires, she would have most of them memorized.


	9. Spewing

She left Sam with a kiss, followed quickly by another as he stood next to her truck. Eventually, she was released from his warm cage of kisses, and given a final butt tweak as she hopped into the truck. "See you, wolf," Bella grinned.

Sam chewed his lip, his eyes roaming her. "Tuesday."

When she got home that night, Charlie was still up, watching the Seahawks game with rapt attention. A beer rested against his knee, hanging loosely from his hand. She would have thought him asleep, if he didn't look up when she shut the front door.

"Hey, Bells."

"Hey," Bella said quietly, tossing her bag down by the shoes, and kicking off her shoes and jacket. Charlie turned back to the television, and Bella chewed on her lip as she sat down on the couch, a few seats away from him. She was able to sit there, trying to understand what was going on in the game, when suddenly it was muted.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me that you've managed to get knocked up twice."

"Dad!" Bella gasped, before she laughed and crossed her arms, leaning back in the couch. "No. It's no big deal."

He was staring at her, obviously thinking differently. "The last time you sat in the living room with me, you were pregnant. What is it this time?"

"I have a date Tuesday."

He blinked. "Okay?"

"Uh… Actually, it's the third date," Bella admitted. "I didn't want to tell you if nothing came of the others, you know?"

Charlie stared at her for a minute, before turning towards the television, reaching for the remote. "Okay? Good, Bells. Nice to know."

"It's Sam Uley." That got his attention. He stopped reaching for the remote and glanced to her.

"The guy that found you in the woods?"

Bella winced. "Well, yeah, but he's one of Jake's friends and I met him… you know, officially, last winter, and … he's pretty great. He's a firefighter down on the res, and the Chief of the tribe." Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Our first date was lunch in Port Angeles last week, and then last Friday, we had a picnic on the beach." Bella shrugged as Charlie's eyebrows were both raised now. "He asked me to breakfast."

"Isn't he like… thirty?"

"Twenty four," Bella corrected.

Charlie's mustache twitched. "I don't know, Bells."

"He knows about everything," Bella said carefully. "All of my friends do, at the reservation." Charlie's mustache twitched again. "Other than wanting to tear Phil apart, he's… I mean, he …" Bella wasn't sure how to phrase it. "He still wants to continue with whatever this thing is we have."

Charlie exhaled, as if she had just told him he was twenty years older than her. "He comes over for dinner this week, and I meet him officially. And you guys can do whatever. I'd just like to meet him before this becomes serious. If I say he's too old for you, or reminds me too much of Cullen, then he's banned from this house. And no sneaking into your room, like Cullen did-"

How the hell did he know about that? Her face must have betrayed herself, because Charlie snorted. "I'm a cop, Bella. I know when someone has been breaking into my daughter's bedroom window. What do you think I am? An amateur?"

"Er… sorry?"

"I just don't want two grandchildren in one year, got it?"

Bella nodded immediately. "No grandchildren… er… two grandchildren. And bring Sam over for dinner."

He nodded and unmuted the game. Bella stood, to check and make sure he had eaten the lasagna she had made him for dinner. He called out to her, the game muted once more, making her pause. "Is he good to you?"

Bella turned, and felt a smile light her face up. "He's amazing, dad."

Charlie grunted, and pressed the button again. The game drowned out Bella washing Charlie's dinner dishes before she headed up to bed, a skip in her step.

Having a date with Sam Tuesday morning, however, meant that she wouldn't be seeing him for a whole week, practically. Well, wouldn't be able to go on the date for nearly a week. She made sure she went to the reservation every day, usually after class, to make sure no one was starving. Whenever Bella got there, it was usually just moments before Sam had to leave for patrols.

She wasn't disappointed in the greeting. He would pull her into himself, so that their bodies were flush, and give her so many kisses that she felt like her head was spinning from lack of oxygen. Then, once that display was over, no matter who else was sitting in his house, he would drag her to the kitchen, set her on the kitchen countertop, and peel off the bandaid on her arm, inspecting the scratch mark she had.

It was barely anything now, nothing more than a little scab that would heal fine uncovered. But, that was still unacceptable to Sam.

Every single time he pulled the bandaid off, he would stare at it a minute before giving Bella a kiss to her cheek, murmuring how sorry he was. She had taken to rolling her eyes after the first day. He was still inconsolable. Then he'd pull out his first aid kit, opening it beside her.

It had the whole nine yards. Gauze, antiseptic, tourniquets, braces, numbing spray, Tylenol. It looked like a bag that a first responder would have in his car. Though, she supposed Sam was a first responder. And the wolves got hurt enough when they fought vampires that it was probably a good idea that they had the kit. But it was a bit overkill for a scabbed scratch.

"Sam, I don't think it will bleed anymore. It hasn't for three days."

"You don't want it to get infected, just in case."

"It's not even going to scar. It's fine."

But that was the wrong thing to say. Anything about scarring her. He worked more diligently then. So she just kept quiet, letting him do what he wanted to her poor arm. It was probably the most looked after part of herself.

So he'd swab it with an alcohol pad, let that dry before he'd put a bandaid over it. And then another to make sure the first one didn't fall off.

"Maybe I should get a lollypop after this doctor's visit," Bella teased him as he lifted her off the counter.

Sure enough, the next day, he presented a dum-dum from his pocket. "You're such a dork," she muttered, but happily unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. He pulled it out so that he could kiss her a final farewell before his patrols, and then she was given it back.

Whoever witnessed the spectacle, this time Jared, would wait until Sam was out of hearing distance, before giving Bella a look.

"Yeah, I know. He's a piece of work," Bella summed up. "But I get candy, so I'm not complaining."

"Just wait until it goes away," Jared smirked. "Then you'll have to skin your knee or something to keep the treatment up."

Bella rolled her eyes. "He might have a coronary if that happened." Jared laughed, not doubting that for a second. "I mean seriously, he won't have any idea on what to do when the scratch goes away."

"He does feel guilty."

"He controlled himself well enough," Bella said simply. "Do you want leftovers warmed up or not?"

"Yes, please."

Bella rolled her eyes, but pulled the food out of the fridge, warming it up.

She woke up Tuesday morning extremely early. It wasn't that she was excited - she was that too, but it was the fact that she felt a lurching feeling in her stomach. And the wave of nausea hit her. She barely made it out of bed and tumbled into the bathroom before she threw up.

Ugh.

Was this what it felt like to have morning sickness? Because it seriously sucked.

"Bells?" she heard Charlie's voice, groggy from being woken up, but when she wiped at her mouth, she saw him standing in the doorway, squinting into the dark room. She hadn't even turned on the light.

"Fine. Just a little sick, is all."

Charlie was quiet a minute before he cleared his throat. "Do you need anything? It's been a while, but Renee liked water."

"I'm good. I think it's passing." But she had spoken too soon. Ugh. "On second thought, can you get my phone off my nightstand? I need to cancel."

"Sure thing, Bells." Charlie was back a second later, awkwardly passing the phone to her. "Do you want the light on?"

"So you can see me looking like crap? No, thanks, dad." The light of her phone was like a sun, and she immediately turned the phone away from her. "Okay, that's bright. Good call on not turning the light on, dad."

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I'll be fine, dad."

"Then it's good if I get ready for work?" Bella told him it was fine and Charlie only lingered for a minute, before he disappeared for his room. Bella turned down the brightness of her phone and then checked the time. Seven am. She was supposed to meet Sam in an hour. If she was able to keep herself from throwing up in the next twenty minutes, maybe she'd just be a little late. She still had to shower, and pick an outfit. Sitting her pajamas - which was just an oversized t-shirt and underwear, she didn't think that was acceptable for a date in public.

Which was probably why Charlie was uncomfortable. Not only did he not do emotional jargon, but it was weird to walk around half dressed. He didn't even walk around in his boxers in the middle of the night.

She texted Sam. "Probably going to be a little late. Feeling nauseas and clutching the toilet bowl at the moment."

Immediately, there was a reply. "I'm on my way." Oh no. If he brought that medical kit, she was going to lock the door.

"I'm not even dressed."

"Then I'll be there double time." God, he was a dork. She snorted and set the phone on the counter above her head, before she rested against the tub, breathing deeply through her nose. When Charlie was on his way out, he stopped by the bathroom door again. A glass of water was in his hand, as well as a few crackers on a paper plate.

"I thought, maybe you'd change your mind later," Charlie admitted.

He set them down by her feet. "Thanks, dad," Bella said quietly.

"I can stay home, if you want me to."

Bella shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. I think it's going away." Her stomach lurched, though, and it seemed she couldn't lie successfully. Once she flushed, she took a drink of the water he gave her. "Sam said he was on his way."

Charlie's mustache twitched again. "And he knows you're puking your guts out?"

"Sam seems to think he can fix everything," Bella said with a small smile. "He won't be able to do much, anyway. Probably just stare at me from the door."

Charlie gave a small smile. "Like me. Right. Okay. I'll leave the door unlocked for him, then."

"Thanks, dad. See you later." Charlie gave a nod. Bella attempted to nibble on the crackers, but it was a no go. She ended up retching yet again. She heard the front door open downstairs a few minutes after Charlie left, and groaned as Sam was suddenly appearing, a worried look on his face.

"I totally intended to dress nicer," Bella admitted. Sam's eyes looked her over, as if seeing what she meant.

"It's okay, I like this." Bella snorted, grabbing the plate of crackers and tossing them in the trash can. "Want the light on?" She shook her head, so he shrugged.

"You're such a guy." She tried some water, and it helped slightly. Sam glanced around the bathroom before curiously opening the closet beside the door. He seemed to be successful in finding what he wanted because he grabbed a washcloth. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to help." He wet it in the sink before sitting on the floor next to her. In the small bathroom, he took up a lot of space, and looked like an idiot. And uncomfortably cramped. He was gentle as he reached towards her, which wasn't hard to do in the small space, and smoothed her hair out of her face before placing the washcloth onto her head. It was cold, and immediately felt great. She sighed, and leaned back against the tub, closing her eyes and breathing out of her nose once more. "So… morning sickness started?"

"My life is going to be hell," Bella muttered. "You didn't have to come. I can clutch a toilet bowl on my own."

"I'd be a pretty shitty imprint if I let you puke away while I enjoyed a cup of coffee." Bella snorted, but immediately groaned as another wave of nausea hit her. One hand holding the cloth to her forehead, she reached forward and emptied her stomach. God, her stomach was definitely cramping. Warm hands were at her neck, holding her hair back, and when Bella was sure that she wasn't going to throw up any time in the near future, he flushed the toilet for her. "See? I'm useful."

"It's disgusting."

"So are dirty diapers. Sue and Leah deal with Claire, but it's revolting." Bella just giggled and pressed the cloth to her face, so that it covered her eyes. "I don't know what she eats."

"Probably dirt and sand," Bella said quietly.

"Do you need anything? Like, toast or... crackers? I'm pretty sure that's what you're supposed to eat." Bella peaked at him. "Okay, so I know that because I googled it on the way here." She covered her eyes again.

"I don't think I could keep it down," Bella admitted. "The crackers made me sick."

"Do you want more water?" Peaking out from under the cloth again, she saw that the glass was almost empty. Bella gave a small nod. "I'll be right back."

"Thanks, Sam," she said with a sigh. She felt him leave, the warmth in the room leaving, and when he returned, the water was pressed into her empty hand. "Really, thank you."

"Like I said, I'd be a shitty wolf and boyfriend." Boyfriend. She smiled lightly and took a sip of the water.

"I told Charlie that if you bring that first aid kit, I might have kicked you out." Sam frowned. "I'm ready to burn it myself."

"That is very useful-"

"A little too much," Bella returned, with a small grin.

"You could have said."

"I let you have your fun," Bella shrugged. She set the water down and pushed the cloth up so that she could make eye contact with him. "It made you feel better."

"It annoyed you that much?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "It was cute. I certainly didn't mind being greeted with a hot make out partner."

"Cute," Sam repeated. "The horror."

"I'll make sure to repeat it when Paul's nearby. Let him tease you about it relentlessly." Sam rolled his eyes in return. "I don't mind it, when it's not crazy. But maybe it's a little excessive when there's no danger of anything happening to my arm. If I had accidentally sliced my finger or something, sure. But I know you're just really worried that it'll scar or something, and you want to fix it because it happened on accident. But it's fine, Sam. Really. I have other things to worry about than a tiny scratch."

"I know. I just…" Sam hesitated and she found that the distraction from her nausea was great. She bit her lip as Sam dropped his gaze. She hadn't meant to make him upset. "Worrying about that stops me from worrying about the dickwad that hurt you."

Oh. She hadn't thought about that. "Oh. I didn't… know that you used that…" Bella cleared her throat, frowning now. "I'm sorry. I really did think it was cute, just… a little much after a while."

"So, you did like the greeting, then?" Sam said suddenly, grinning.

Bella laughed, her foot kicking his shin lightly. "Such a guy. Yes, I didn't mind that in the slightest. Though, if I do complain about then, then you really did mess up big." Sam relaxed slightly.

"Do you feel better?"

"Much, since you got here." He seemed to glow with that. But they sat in silence for a few minutes just to make sure, and Bella felt like she was normal. Her nausea was gone and the more she drank water, the better she felt. She set the rag on the counter by her phone and Sam helped her to her feet. "We could still make breakfast," Bella admitted, as she checked the time.

"We could always stay in and just have breakfast here. In case the nausea does come back," Sam offered. Ugh, she hoped not. She really, really did.

"Yeah, okay… I'm going to take a shower, though. I feel disgusting."

"Sure, uh… I'll wait downstairs."

"Or, if you think I'll slip in the shower, you can always wait in my room," Bella teased. She moved out into the hall towards it and Sam followed, likely more curious than anything. Her room wasn't that messy, but she still kicked things under her bed, flushing in embarrassment. His house was immaculate. Not even a sock on the floor. And she had things all over her desk, her bed was messy, and her drawers didn't even shut all the way. Maybe she had too many clothes? "It's a little messy," Bella apologized as she tried to straighten things out on her desk. "Sorry."

"It's fine. You've sort of had a crazy last few weeks." Yeah, a little crazy. He could definitely say that again. Once she felt like her room looked a little more decent, she tried to find clothes to wear, and Sam propped himself on the bed, his arms behind his head as he watched her. He looked… well, ridiculous, in the room. Much too big for it. Her bed was only a full and he took up a lot of room, almost hanging off the end. The sight was so ridiculous that she started giggling.

"What?" Sam asked.

"You look like a giant in my room." Sam spread himself out a little further, making himself look even bigger. "I'm surprised you even fit in the doorway."

"What can I say? I'm a horse-sized wolf in my free time." Well, it wasn't lying. He perked up as she opened her closet door and grabbed a decent shirt and a skirt. "What's that?" She followed his gaze, flushing slightly as she spotted the sonogram. Taking it off the door, she approached him. "My scan from my doctor's appointment the other week." Handing it to him, he seemed fascinated as he stared at it. "I have another one in a month, I think."

"This is… pretty cool." Bella exhaled slightly, and Sam stared at it. "But it looks like a blob, really."

Bella laughed. "Yeah, I know. I'm only ten weeks along. Next visit will be more exciting, probably."

"But you're both healthy?" Bella nodded. "Good."

"Yeah. But I'm going to take a shower before I ward you away from my house. I'll be out in a few minutes. Make yourself at home."

The shower had to be set on warm, not hot, because the heat made her nauseas, but once she figured that out, she was able to wash with no difficulties. And then she scrubbed her teeth, making sure that her tongue got a good clean too. She could practically taste the vomit breath.

Looking in the mirror, she looked awful. There were dark circles under her eyes and redness around her nose. She looked like she had the flu or something. A quick layer of foundation cleared it up, but she hesitated a moment before putting on some lip balm as well. She might as well look somewhat decent.

When she got back to her room, Sam was still lounging on the bed, the picture of the sonogram in his hands, and he glanced up as she entered. "Feeling better?"

"Loads," Bella admitted. "It's amazing how much better you feel when you're clean." She ruffled her hair in her towel and grabbed her brush. "So, what do you want for breakfast? I've got pretty much everything in my kitchen."

"I started a pot of coffee, but I'll cook." Bella raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. I know how to cook."

"Uh huh," Bella said slowly. "I'll believe that when I see it." She moved towards the stairs. "Well? Hup to, Alpha-boss."

Sam chuckled and followed her down the stairs, and she opened the fridge.

"Woah, there, I said I'd cook." He maneuvered himself between her and the fridge, somehow, and effectively blocked her vision of the inside. "Hmmmm. My psychic imprint senses tell me that you want cereal?"

"They do, do they?" Bella asked, amused. "Well… yes, that would be correct."

Sam grabbed the milk and seemed a bit lost for a second until he spotted the pantry, where he grabbed the cereal. Bella rolled her eyes as she got the bowl out, and he grabbed a second one, for himself, and Bella found the spoons. He poured himself some Life, before shaking the two different boxes. "Pick your poison."

"Chex." And he seemed to know the perfect milk to cereal ratio, as he poured it expertly and took the two spoons from her, before sticking them into each bowl.

"I can cook like a master chef."

Bella giggled. "Yes, I can see that." She took her bowl from his waiting hands and took an experimetal bite. "Hmm, could use more cereal." He gave her a look clearly asking if she was being serious, but Bella took another bite, moving towards the table. "Or is it more milk? But I guess it's adequate."

"For having cereal every morning since I was three, I'd say this is expertly made."

Bella glanced back to him, her eyes wide in astonishment. "You have cereal every single day?"

"First thing when i wake up. And then I have second breakfast. And if I have time, third."

Bella snorted, sitting down. "What a dork." She took another bite of cereal, and sighed. "But seriously though, you're the best person in the world." Sam winked as he sat down.

"Of course I am." They ate their cereal in silence for a while, and once Sam was scraping the bottom, he spoke. "So… how long have you been getting morning sickness?"

"Today was the first day," Bella sighed. "Which means it's a long journey ahead."

Sam gave a sympathetic smile. "Well, you've got a hot werewolf to hold your hair back and make you gourmet cereal, so it's not going to be all bad."

"Oh, my savior," Bella grinned. She nodded to his bowl. "Charlie wants you to come over for dinner this week. To… uh, get to know you." Sam swallowed in surprise, nearly choking on the cereal she knew he didn't chew. "He insists before this can become more serious."

"Sure," Sam said immediately. "I mean, yeah, absolutely. Just… whenever, I guess. I have patrols most nights, but I can switch with someone if I need to."

"If you can't make it, I totally get it-"

"It's fine. I've got to make a good first impression, don't I?"

Bella snorted. "I think you already did. Carrying me out of the woods in the freezing rain. Hell of a first impression. I think Charlie practically worships you."

"No, he doesn't." But Sam didn't sound so sure. Bella giggled and set the bowl down on the table, leaning back in the chair. "He really doesn't, does he?"

"Well, he's pretty grateful," Bella admitted. "But worship? That's a bit of a stretch."

Sam was a bit relieved. "Good, because that would be weird."

Bella laughed. "Out of everything, that's weird? I hope you've looked in a mirror recently." She looked him over for the first time that day. "You're wearing a shirt again," Bella sighed. "Not fond of it."

"Figured if I saw the Chief on the way here, I wouldn't be the creep shirtless while his daughter's home." Bella snorted. "But if this is a regular thing, I could always take it off after I get here."

"What a problem solver," Bella said. She stood from the table, and took his bowl from him. "Do you want more, or are you good?"

"I'm good," Sam admitted. "I made sure to fill myself up so I wouldn't eat an army's portion of food." So, Bella quickly washed them. "So, rushing here totally makes up for bailing Sunday, right?"

Bella glanced over her shoulder. "I don't know. You started Sunday night without a shirt and left with one. I'd say that's the opposite of progress. Seriously, aren't you dying?" Sam shrugged. "Jake can barely ride in the cab of my truck without having to have the windows down to make it cold."

"My air conditioning is always on in my truck," Sam admitted. "But I've gotten used to running warmer."

She wondered if it was a time frame thing. Sam had been a wolf for nearly three years now. And the others had changed within the last year. "That's weird. I didn't know you guys were aware that you were warmer."

"It's like we have a fever constantly." Huh. "But in the beginning, it makes you really sick feeling. You feel like you need to take a swim or something. Cliff divings big with the newbies."

"You're so above that level," Bella teased. She set the dishes down to dry and approached the table. "I really do appreciate you coming over, and I'm sorry for ruining the plans of a nice breakfast at the diner."

"It's alright. I'm flexible."

"Do you want coffee?"

He shrugged. "I'm good."

"Well I need coffee," Bella admitted, and she poured herself a cup from the coffee Sam had started while she was in the shower. "So, do you have patrols today?"

"Tonight at six." Bella nodded, sipping from her coffee as she glanced back at him. "What time do classes end?"

"Four," Bella admitted. "I need to make Charlie dinner and then I'll head down to the res, like usual." Sam seemed to have memorized her schedule. "What do you say about Friday, for the dinner with Charlie?"

He nodded immediately. "Friday's good." Bella relaxed slightly, a little relieved.

"I'll make him swear not to give you the 'I have a gun' speech."

Sam grinned. "I have a firetruck."

Bella laughed and pushed off the counter. "What is it with guys and making sure whatever they have is bigger?" Sam smirked. "So childish. I'm knocking you back to twenty."

"Twenty?" Sam asked, confused. "Twenty what?"

"Twenty years old. You used to be late twenties, early thirties."

"So it's a point system?"

Bella thought about it before giving him a nod. "Sure." Sam grinned suddenly. Uh oh.

"I did make you cereal and coffee, and rushed over here."

Bella sighed. "Fine. I guess that adds two years. Twenty two. But that's as high as it will get."

"Unless I ask you to a date in Port Angeles Thursday night?" Bella blinked in surprise. "Dinner?"

"Either you're really competitive," Bella admitted. "Or you really want to go on a date with me."

Sam reached for her and managed to snag the belt loops of her skirt, tugging her towards him. "Hmmm… Maybe both?" He reached for a kiss, but Bella flinched back a millimeter.

"I still feel like I have vomit breath, on top of coffee breath-"

"No vomit breath. I promise," Sam said quietly. "Coffee breath I can live with." He tugged her closer again and Bella held the coffee mug with two hands, to make sure she didn't spill it on him. It was still pretty hot. And even though she knew it wouldn't hurt him too bad, it still wasn't something you did to your… well to any boyfriend. "If you'll forgive my cereal breath."

Bella giggled quietly as she leaned down to his height. "Gross. I guess if it's a one time thing." The kiss was sweet, and soon became more hands on, his hands suddenly gripping her waist, and her body now between his opened legs so that they were closer.

He was dangerous. He was dangerous in the sense that she lost control with him, she lost her conscious mind and let her body take over. And while it didn't scare her, she knew that things couldn't go that fast. They couldn't lose themselves in each other, because there was still a trial of things to work through. And having that level of dependency and intimacy would just make it that much harder to concentrate on things that needed to be finished.

He pulled away and Bella let him take the coffee from her hands, setting it on the table, before he stood, kissing her again. "Sam, as much as I love doing this, I do have school to leave for in ten minutes."

Sam hummed, acknowledging he heard her, before he kissed her again. As if he couldn't stop, as if she was the fountain of youth, as if he couldn't get enough. It made her feel really warm on the inside, not just on the outside. "How long do you need to get ready?"

Bella giggled, her free hands pushing lightly against his chest. "At least eight minutes."

"That gives us two minutes," Sam pointed out. "I never realized how valuable math would be in the real world." Bella giggled. He really was a dork. He silenced her, and himself, in another kiss. "Besides, I won't see you until tonight, briefly."

"I see more of that first aid kit than I do of you," Bella teased. "But I do really need to get ready, Sam." He sighed and released her. Bella gave him a small smile. "What time do your patrols end?"

"Midnight."

Bella wrinkled her nose. "That's eight hours of running."

"I've been taking off the day patrols so I've got to do night instead."

She frowned, glancing up to him, her hands still on his chest. "That means you only got like six hours of sleep."

"You're worth waking up early for."

"Uh, now you sound like a cheesy romance," Bella snorted. She grabbed her coffee. "No more breakfast. You get eight hours of sleep or I will cancel a date."

"Where did you learn to bargain?"

Bella gave him a mysterious smirk. "Who's your best friend?"

"Paul?"

"Oh, please, he's as sly as someone can get." Bella sipped from her coffee as she moved towards the stairs. "By the way, any idea why he's still being creepy towards me? Like, I don't know, offering advice or being silent. I don't like it. Tell him to stop."

"He doesn't want you to be a 'pathetic little bitch.'" Bella glanced back and Sam quickly continued. "His words, not mine."

"Yeah, but he's shown no hint of any affection - dare I even call it that?" Sam shrugged. "It's weird. I don't like it. I miss old Paul. Snarky, sly, sarcastic, and mean Paul. Not this… weird, lovey dovey, older brother Paul."

"I'll pass the message on."

Bella giggled, climbing the steps. "Thanks." Glancing down the stairs from the top, she saw Sam leaning against the wall at the bottom, and his gaze was on the pictures of young Bella, from elementary school, and the frames led up to high school the further up he went. "I keep telling Charlie to take them down."

"They're cute. You're cute." He tapped on one, one where Bella had let Renee do her hair for it. The disaster picture. "This one is my favorite."

"You're not allowed to have a favorite, because they will all be burned when Charlie ever decides to move in with Sue." Sam shot her a look, and Bella huffed. "Fine, so they won't be burned, but that doesn't mean you can insist it's your favorite. It's awful."

Sam laughed. "That's why it's my favorite."

"You officially have a bad choice in women." Bella gave him a wry smile. "You love hot messes."

"Definitely can't deny that. You've met Leah." Bella rolled her eyes, but grabbed her toothbrush to give herself one last brush, before she made herself smell nice, and then she was slipping on shoes, and grabbing her bag and computer.

"I won't tell Leah you said that!" Bella called down to him as she nearly tripped over her feet getting out of her room. "Damn it. I swear, I'm so clumsy that it's ridiculous."

"Well, if the baby's going to be just as clumsy as you, then you had better start enlisting pack babysitters now, or they'll all run for the hills once they find out." Bella shot Sam a look that was definitely not appreciated. "It's true. We can barely handle one Bella getting into trouble. But two?"

Bella smacked his chest, and he caught her hand easily, giving her a light kiss to promise he was teasing. She wasn't sure where all the kissing was coming from, but she definitely wasn't complaining. "I need to go, and you need to go so I can lock the house up." Making sure everything was turned off, she grabbed the cup of coffee off the table and Sam's hand, moving him to the front door. "Thank you, for coming over and breakfast and everything."

He chilled out on the front patio, leaning against the rail as Bella fumbled with the keys for the door. "What are boyfriends for?"

"Is that what you are?" Bella asked curiously, biting her lip and glancing towards him for a split second before turning her attention back to the keys. "Are you my boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I guess… I mean, if that's … okay?"

Bella glanced to him. "Not okay. You need more adjectives. Ridiculously hot, werewolf boyfriend, yes. But just boyfriend? No."

Sam seemed to mull over the name as Bella clicked the door locked and straightened as she faced him completely. "Well then, I guess I'm the ridiculously hot, werewolf boyfriend."

"What a hard title to bear."

"The hardest," Sam agreed easily. Bella giggled and he looked her over. "But that makes you the ridiculously gorgeous, average human girlfriend with a hitchhiker."

Bella laughed, hopping down the stairs and moving towards her truck. "Let me guess, Jake?"

"Jake."

"This name calling is getting out of hand. It's only been a few months - barely."

"Jake's taking his role of Uncle very seriously."

"I can see that." Bella tossed her things into her truck before putting her mug into the cup holder. She then moved towards Sam, boldly, hooking her arms around his neck (he helped, obviously, to provide a shorter height difference), and she pulled him into a kiss. "Thank you," she said quietly, pulling away just enough that they weren't touching. Even when she talked, her lips would just brush against his. "I really do appreciate it."

"I'm happy to anytime."

"I'll see you tonight."

"Tonight," Sam agreed. "Briefly, but okay."

"What do you do all day, if you have patrols tonight?"

"I have a shift at the firehouse in a few hours," Sam shrugged. "I'll nap until then, and then nap there."

"Such a diligent fireman," Bella teased. "See you later."

He kissed her once more before Bella really needed to go, and she hopped into her truck, waiting for Sam to pull out with his truck, before she pulled out of the driveway. Her next door neighbor was standing on the porch, staring at Bella in astonishment as she drove past.

What? She couldn't have a boyfriend? Was that so shocking?

Charlie left a message on Bella's phone on the drive back that he was heading to the diner with a few of his work buddies, as they were working late that night, and he'd rather she stayed with Leah. So, Bella headed straight to the reservation instead of stopping at her house, and parked in front of Sam's.

His truck wasn't there - likely still at the firehouse, so she let herself inside, seeing Leah and Paul engaged in a very heated game of cards.

"It's fucking war, Paul," Leah snapped. "Not go fish-"

"I know what the fuck it fucking is!" Paul returned just as angrilly.

"Hey," Bella greeted slowly, glancing between them. "Should I leave?"

Leah sighed and glanced away from Paul towards her. "No. He's just being a dickwad. Seriously, if a number or face matches, you war it out, not collect them-"

"I put the card down first. I made a move first and I won the battle-"

"Maybe you guys need to quit the game?" Bella suggested.

"Not when I'm fucking losing, Swan," Paul shot at her. "Let's go, Clearwater. Deal your next card."

Right then. Bella went towards the fridge, grabbing a water bottle, before she sat down at the table, watching them fight over the cards.

By the time Sam got home, Paul had managed to tear up three cards and Leah was preening over a majority of the deck. "Tough game?" Sam asked Paul.

"Don't want to fucking talk about it," Paul snarled. His eyes flickered towards Bella and Sam followed his gaze. He didn't even seem to know she was there.

"Bella! I saw your truck, but I wasn't sure if you were here or at Jakes or-"

Bella shrugged. "They're too entertaining to just leave. Besides, I had a feeling that if I left, you'd have one less couch to worry about." Paul glared at her, but didn't say anything.

Sam moved around the table to her and gave her a warm, moving kiss. And then he suddenly snorted, pulling back. "What?" Bella asked.

"Paul called me a show off."

"I didn't hear anything."

Sam shrugged. "Werewolf perk."

"Perks my ass," Bella muttered. She glanced to Paul, who huffed and crossed his arms, glaring at her. And when he noticed she was looking at him, he looked away, his features smoothing to neutrality. "Please tell me that mutt didn't imprint on me too, because I might hang myself." Sam laughed and Paul resumed glaring at her. "Stop looking at me like I have the plague."

"It's not me that's going to get fat." Bella raised an eyebrow, keeping eye contact as she calmly walked towards him, licked the palm of her hand, and rubbed it on his arm. He jerked away from her, growling. "What the fuck?"

"If you pee on me, I'm going to put a collar on you."

"Leech-lover."

"Lassie."

He growled at her. "You're such a-"

"Paul!"

"She licked me!" Paul snapped.

"And I can do a lot worse," Sam warned.

"I licked my hand, I didn't lick you," Bella returned childishly. She gave him a pleased, smug smile and stepped back towards Sam.

Her boyfriend rolled up her short sleeve on her arm, and looked at the bandaid. "I guess if I pull the kit out, you'll burn it, right?"

"I told you I'd torch it if I saw it again for other circumstances. Play doctor all you want for this scratch. I get candy." Sam seemed glad. He was obviously curious about her healing progress for the day. So he took her hand, leading her to the kitchen, and lifted her onto the countertop. A kiss soon followed.

"So, basically Sam's good for his candy."

Bella smirked as she glanced back to Leah. "And he digs hot messes. By the way, can I crash with you tonight? Charlie's working late."

"I get off patrols at ten. Is that too late for you?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm good with whenever. So, ten's fine. I guess I'll just hang out here?" She glanced back at Sam. "If that's okay?"

"You're pack," Sam said simply. "My house is the pack house. So, technically your space too. You'll probably be by yourself, though. No one really stays that late."

"Er, last time I just slept on the couch waiting for Leah." Sam raised an eyebrow, in surprise.

"You slept here?"

"Paul and I took a couch each." Sam looked too surprised to even continue. "I kicked him out of the couch on the way out of here. He snores." Leah cracked up behind her. Bella was pleased to see that even Sam looked a little bit impressed. He tore the bandaid off with a quick snap and she could barely feel it, but Sam still gave her a kiss to the cheek in apology. And then he wiped it down with an alcohol pad before sticking another bandaid on. He didn't bother placing another one on top of it. She figured that was progress.

Sam met her eyes and Bella blinked a few times. "Is that it?"

Sam hesitated, as if thinking over everything, before he nodded and opened the drawer under Bella's legs. She lifted them just enough for him to dig into it, and he pulled out a piece of candy. Apparently suckers made her a real sucker. She inspected the flavor before giving him a smile. "Thank you, Dr. Uley, for saving me from infection. Can I stand like a civilized person, now?"

"A quick co-pay, and you can do whatever." Co-pay? Before she could ask, he kissed her lightly and she relaxed. Oh. Well, in that case co-pays were welcome. "Better?"

"I guess so." Bella was pulled down onto the ground, and she stood there, pulling the wrapper off of the sucker before moving towards the living room, Leah making room for her on the couch. Bella sat. "So, Leah, anything interesting?"

"Besides kicking Paul's ass, what else is new?" Leah shrugged. Paul growled and Leah crossed her arms. "I'm obviously the stronger player. I'll have to make a phone call up to Emily to tell her how you're turning into a weak ass bitch." Bella saw the wounded look on Paul's face, at the mere mention of Emily, and he glanced away from Leah, towards the back door, his jaw clenching.

"Have you ever called her?" Bella found herself asking.

"No," Paul said shortly.

"Emily's come to terms with what happened," Leah said after a minute of silence. "But she's a little… cautious."

"I don't want to talk about Emily," Paul snapped, and Bella flinched in surprise as he stood up, storming out the front door. The door slammed shut behind him. Sam sighed, taking a deep breath, before giving the two women an apologetic smile. "Sorry, ladies. But that's my cue for early patrols."

"Have fun," Bella said with a smile. She shot a worried look towards where Paul had disappeared. "I'm sorry I pressed the issue-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Sam insisted. "I'll see you later." Bella just nodded. And once Sam had disappeared as well, she was given a quiet and peaceful minute in Sam's house before Leah spoke.

"Emily refuses to talk to him," Leah said. "She knows he's sorry and everything - she knows that he couldn't help it, but… he ruined her face."

"How bad was the scaring?" Bella asked. "I mean, I get the whole… mauling thing, but… is it really that noticeable?"

"Not all the time," Leah admitted. "Not from certain angles." But instead of trying to explain, Leah reached for her phone and pulled out a few pictures. The girl Bella saw was gorgeous. Her skin was copper, her eyes a dark brown, and her hair much like Leah's - to her shoulders and sleek. She was standing with a small girl, obviously Claire, Leah, Sue, Seth, and Harry. "This was a few years ago, at a get together we had. This was when she first met Paul." A few more pictures showed her and Paul hanging out, not close - not dating by any means, but friends, at least. And the last picture was of her recently. "This was a week ago, on her Facebook." Bella swallowed. Oh. The scars were all down one side of her face, tugging one side of her lips into a frown. Bella could see the scars down her shoulders and disappearing into the dress she was wearing.

"She's still gorgeous."

"Paul saw this picture and he flipped his shit." Bella could only imagine. "It was right around the same time the pack found out about Phil."

"When Paul started to act all weird."

"Look who's with her in the picture."

Bella saw. A man, probably around her age, Indian, with a cute smile. "A boyfriend?"

"Good friend, but she's interested in him, yeah. I asked her about it when I saw the picture." Bella winced. That had to hurt. "Paul … yeah, Paul flipped his shit."

"So anything about any imprint gets him weird?"

"You and Sam's fine," Leah admitted. "I mean, he kind of sees it as how Emily and him should have gone. He let her leave and return on her own time. Sam watched you go and you came back when you were ready to." Oh. "Paul and Sam are closer than anyone I've ever met. They know absolutely everything about each other. They're more brothers than best friends." Bella had noticed that. "And Paul's known about the imprint to you since the day they found you in the woods. He's felt everything Sam's felt, heard everything Sam's had to say about it." Bella swallowed. "Sam understands him. Paul understands Sam. But Jared and Kim's relationship, that gets him weird. He hates the lovey shit, but Jared and Kim are the worst for him. He loves Jared like a brother, too, but he can't be around the both of them. They're what he wishes he had."

"But… wouldn't that be every imprint?"

Leah shrugged. "I don't know why it's different. Maybe because of the way he knows everything about Sam. He doesn't have that with Jared and Kim - so he feels like they're secretive - and Emily's pretty secretive and likes to keep to herself."

"So, Kim reminds him of Emily." It made sense. But Bella hated that Emily wouldn't even talk to him. But then again, Bella supposed that she had no reason to. Paul had nearly killed her. "That's sad."

"Yeah," Leah agreed, putting her phone back on the coffee table.

"What about you?" Bella asked suddenly.

"What about me?"

Bella nodded. "Sam and I. What about when you see us?"

Leah shrugged. "I've had a long time to get used to the idea of my ex-boyfriend making out with my best friend, pretty much my sister."

"That wasn't an answer," Bella observed.

Leah shot Bella a look. "Sam and I are over. We're not getting back together, nor do we ever want to. Like I told you eight months ago, I'm over him. I couldn't care if he had sex with you on the counter in front of the whole pack-" Bella shot her an alarmed look. "Okay, yes it would be weird, and we'd all leave, but I don't care. He's good to you, and God knows you deserve someone good to you."

Bella bit her lip. "So… when he kisses me or whatever, that doesn't bother you?"

"I ask you for the details, don't I?" Leah stated. "If I cared, I wouldn't ask. And I'd tell you not to tell me." Bella supposed that made sense. "Speaking of, how was breakfast?"

Bella groaned, grabbing a throw pillow and putting it over her face. "Morning sickness started."

"No way!" Leah squealed. "How exciting!"

Bella didn't think so. She pulled the pillow away and glared at Leah. "Yeah, okay, next time you throw up for an hour straight."

Leah winced. "Oh."

"Not fun. I had to cancel on breakfast. Sam came over, got me back to health, and then made me a bowl of cereal and coffee." Leah looked surprised. "We just sat there and talked. I made sure I didn't smell like vomit and didn't get nauseas again."

"He came over?"

"I told him I would probably be late and he said he was on his way to my house. He showed up after Charlie left and held my hair back and gave me a cold washcloth for my forehead. And he was googling on the way there ways to help out, I guess." Bella shrugged. "It was sweet."

"That does sound sweet." Bella just nodded, playing with her nails as Leah was quiet. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No! Leah!" Bella cried.

"What? I'm just asking. Alone, in your house, with no one to stop you. I mean, besides the puking, that sounds like a great plan."

Bella glared at her. "I didn't sleep with Sam." Leah just sighed. "I lose control of myself when I'm kissing him. This morning, if I didn't have to get to school, maybe something could have happened," Bella admitted. "We got lost in ourselves for a minute there."

"Tongue? Tell me there was tongue."

"A little bit," Bella admitted. "I don't know. I feel like since I learned about the imprint, I can't take my hands off of him."

"You don't have any reservations, anymore. Any worries that he could be bored with you or not like you. You know he does, and you know it won't change." Bella guessed that made sense, too. "I mean, he's yours to do with whatever you want. If you want to elope in Vegas, you could - though I'm certain Sam would say that it's too soon. And if you wanted to go hog wild on each other, all the power to you. But you know he won't ditch you, so you feel like you can be more open and honest and expressive with him than you ever were with Cullen."

"I really do like him," Bella admitted. "We have great taste in men."

Leah shot Bella a grin. "Don't need to tell me twice. I'm working the Port Angeles scene and I might have found a new boyfriend to piss Seth off for a few weeks." Bella couldn't wait to hear that story. And everything seemed okay for now.


	10. Scaring

Bella didn't even think twice about accepting Sam's offer to head back to his house Thursday night for a movie. As she followed behind him in her truck, she ran over all the scenarios in those cheesy romance novels. A movie always meant sex. And Bella… well, she wasn't sure if she was ready to jump into sex with Sam. Not that she wouldn't mind it, but the fact that… well, she hadn't had a real relationship with someone where sex was involved, she wasn't interested in rushing into things with Sam.

That was often a turn off for guys, too. And Bella didn't think Sam was the guy that really cared about sex - they hadn't mentioned it at all to each other, and there were subtle jabs at being shirtless or liking each other half naked, but never fully naked.

Was he expecting sex? Was he speaking international romance movie guy code for sex? Bella wasn't sure. So if it started to lead to that, she needed to come up with a plan - a game plan for rejecting him. She knew he wouldn't act like Paul, when Paul got rejected. Sam had fantastic control. And took everything in stride. But, there was always the possibility that he really did mean a movie.

But the longer they drove - the near forty five minute drive - the more tired she felt. Sleep had been hard to come by with her morning sickness not only happening in the morning, but also at night as she was about to go to sleep. She was amazed she had been able to keep it together for dinner.

And when they pulled into Sam's lot, Bella yawning, he unlocked the front door and hung his keys up before shutting it. "So, I've got pretty much anything awesome."

"Awesome," Bella repeated, biting her lip. "Hmmm… And awesome means?"

Sam's grin seemed to be a little embarrassed as he led her towards the television, and opened up a cabinet. "I have a lot of movies."

Bella could clearly see that. Bella sat down on the floor, pulling a few out. "Fifty First Dates, Bruce Almighty, Gladiator-" Bella glanced at him. "Really? Gladiator?"

"It was a gift."

She was sure it was. She pulled out some more. "Hitch?" Bella glanced at Sam again. "Romcoms? I'm impressed."

"I aim to please," Sam shrugged.

The next one, however, was the winner. "This one?" Sam read the title, before giving her a relieved look. Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

"Thank fuck. Yes."

As Bella put it in, Sam made way for the kitchen. "Want anything?"

"Water would be great!" she called to him. And then she glanced towards him. "I probably don't need to speak very loud. You can hear me no matter what, right?"

Sam shot her a grin over the fridge door. "Pretty much." She flushed and grabbed the remote, fast forwarding to the menu, when the front door opened and Jake appeared.

"Get out, Black," Sam sighed.

"Uh, pack house, remember?" Jake said with a smug smirk. Bella fell onto the couch, taking the water from Sam's hand. "Besides, you owe me for taking your patrol."

"And we're watching a movie," Bella said simply. "No children allowed."

"I'm seventeen-"

"A minor," Bella pointed out, a smile on her face as Sam plopped down next to her. "A child."

"What are we watching?" Jake took the case off the coffee table as Bella reached for it, to hide it. She just wanted to finish a date with Sam well, for once. They couldn't seem to top it since the first one. "Oooo, awesome! I'll make popcorn."

"Don't you dare," Bella threatened and Jake immediately paused. "No food. Food makes me sick after dinner. If you want me puking my guts out, then by all means, go ahead."

"But you will get night patrols the whole weekend," Sam finished the threat.

Jake groaned. "Fine. No popcorn. But move over."

"Jake, seriously?" Bella sighed. "This is still our date, you know-"

"Precisely why I'm here," Jake said simply. "Make sure you two didn't get all freaky deeky."

Bella flushed brilliantly and glanced away from them. "Seriously?"

Sam sighed as he let Bella press play. "The more the merrier, I guess. I don't think you'll go away unless I Alpha order you, and then you'll be even more suspicious in the future."

"It's alright, Jake. I'll just have Sam crash one of your dates with your imprint." Jake didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Bella just rolled her eyes, but felt her cheeks remain as flushed as before. So it must have been guy code for something, then. Did Sam expect her to have sex? She pulled a pillow from behind her onto her lap, clutching it tightly. Did he think the same thing as Charlie, because she couldn't get knocked up anymore than she was, there was no harm?

This is precisely what she needed Leah for.

By the time the movie really started, there was a deep yawn that tore through her and her eyes felt like they were drooping even more than they were on the drive to Sam's place. And then she knew no more.

When Bella didn't use the remote she was clutching to turn the television off, or the DVD player, during the credits, he could understand why she was so silent during the movie. At first, he wasn't sure if she liked this sort of movie, until he reminded himself that she picked it out. She was fast asleep. In fact, she didn't even look like she had moved at all since she had sat down. Her water bottle was still full and room temperature.

"Uh, Bells?" Jake asked.

Sam gently eased himself off of the couch, and Jake saw the predicament. Bella was out. She was completely out. "Should I wake her up?"

"And deal with that wrath? Good luck, Sam. It was nice knowing you."

"Is she bad?"

"No, but she's pregnant." Oh. Right. Sam could remember Sue pregnant with Seth. She got angry easily. Jake stood up, clapping him on the back. "Like I said, good luck."

"What if I just call Charlie?" Sam glanced to Jake, to see the kid's reaction. Jake just smirked. "What? It's only nine o'clock. He's still up, right?"

"His gun's still hot, too," Jake snickered. "And ask him what? Can your daughter sleep with me tonight?"

"No-"

"Do it, man," Jake insisted. "Let's see."

So, Sam dialed the number Jake gave him from the house phone. It only rang once, before the Chief answered. "Chief Swan. Who's this?"

"Chief Swan, this is Sam Uley." There was silence on the end for a second.

"Yes… what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong with Bella, if that's what you mean. She's fine. She just… fell asleep during a movie we were watching with the guys. And-" Sam cleared his throat, and shot a glare to a snickering Jake. "Well, my question is more of advice really. Should I wake Bella up? She hasn't been sleeping well with the morning sickness and everything, and I was just-"

"How long has she been out for?"

"Uh…" Sam glanced back to Bella, who hadn't moved in probably a few hours. "Maybe two hours? Like I said, she was pretty out when the movie started-" Sam winced as Charlie sighed and glanced nervously towards Jake, who was still looking like an idiot with his snickering and grinning. "I just know you're probably not comfortable with the idea of staying over here, Chief Swan, so, that's why I'm calling to see if I should get in touch with Leah to pick Bella up for the night or maybe Jake's-"

"Is there room at your house?"

Sam blinked and Jake immediately stopped snickering, looking surprised too. "Uh, yes, sir. I've got two guest rooms-"

"I don't think it needs to be said, but I'll say it anyway. I've got two shiny guns on the force, and I've never used them to ward off a boyfriend before, but that doesn't mean that I won't. So, if you touch one hair on her head without her permission, I will unload the clip into you, is that understood?"

"Absolutely, Chief Swan. I would never, ever-"

"And if she tells me you break her heart, I will get all of the guys on the force to hide your body in the woods, and no one will ever find you." Jesus Christ. Sam swallowed.

"Understood, sir. I would never hurt Bella. She's one of a kind and definitely not someone to mess with. She's scary when she yells at Jake, I can only imagine when it's directed towards me." Charlie gave a chuckle. "She'll be safe and sound in the guest room, and I'll make sure she's on time for her classes in the morning."

"Good man."

Sam cleared his throat, to keep it from hitting a higher octave. "Right, goodnight, sir. Thank you."

"Goodnight, Sam."

When Sam hung up, he exhaled like his life was being drained from him. "Jesus, that was more nerve-wracking than asking Bella out."

Jake laughed breathlessly. "Dude, I had no idea he would even suggest letting her stay here."

"You don't think he was being sarcastic, do you?"

Jake gave him a look. "Grow some balls, take her to bed."

Sam shot him a glare. "Watch it. You do realize that her dad is basically the only person she can trust, because her mom's still with that bastard, right?" Jake winced. "So, making sure Charlie can trust her is important, too, you know."

"I'm just teasing you, man. Jesus."

Sam knew that. "I just hate that we can't do anything. That she lives every day knowing that he's not even getting punished for what he did to her - that he's just out doing whatever he wants because he knows she can't do anything with her mom there."

"So maybe we get Renee to come here."

Sam shot Jake a look. "Right. If I was that dick, I wouldn't let Renee out of my sight."

Jake seemed to be thinking the same thing. "She only has to see him Christmas, and by then we'll have a plan. I mean, between Charlie, my dad, you, and Bella, and not to mention the rest of the pack. There's going to be some plan in place to keep her safe." Sam hated that there was nothing concrete now, though. Nothing to calm her down when she thought about it now. He could feel her spikes of panic when she was at the grocery store with Kim. And Kim would tell him when Bella was busy that she would hurry past the Christmas displays. Christmas wasn't even for another three months.

Fuck.

Three months was no time at all.

"So… are you going to put her in bed or leave her on the couch?" Sam snapped out of his head and glanced to Jake.

"Yeah, can you get the door open for me?"

Jake was already off to do so, and Sam assessed how Bella was sleeping before sliding an arm under her legs and another under her armpits. As he lifted her, she barely even made a movement to acknowledge she was being moved. She was also pretty limp. If she wasn't breathing, he would definitely have thought she was dead.

Moving down the hall, Sam frowned when he saw it was his bedroom door open.

"Uh, you realize Charlie's not coming over here to check on her or anything, right?" Jake said from the doorway. "Besides, your room's the warmest. Do you ever even open the vents to the other rooms?"

"No one sleeps in there, so no," Sam admitted quietly. Jake pulled the covers to the bed down and Sam set Bella down gently, before pulling off her shoes and the water bottle from her lap. He set it down on the nightstand, before moving the alarm clock and setting it to give her plenty of time to get home for school.

"She's been in here before, right?" Jake asked.

"To get clothes after I phased once," Sam shrugged. "That was it."

"You've got my shift at ten, you know."

"I know." Sam covered her back up carefully, hearing the steady heartbeat of not only her, but the baby within her as well. "I want to tear him apart."

"Me too, but getting upset over it just gets Bella upset," Jake said quietly. "That's what Leah said. So, I vented to Leah for about four hours, and she convinced me that worrying over it would just make it worse. So I'm on 'figuring out a plan' duty."

"So you don't have anything yet."

"We will, soon. If I have to go down there with her, to make sure nothing happens, I will," Jake insisted. "But I'm really hoping we can get it so that she doesn't have to go down there."

"Would she let one of us go down there with her?"

"She better, if she knows what will keep her safe." Sam had a feeling her days of being against protectors was over. It was what got her into a lot of messes before. And she didn't seem against the pack helping - she just didn't like the way Paul did it. Brotherly. She wanted to be treated normal.

"I could always go with her. A boyfriend would be a good reason to share a room and keep her safe. She told Paul it was mostly at night-"

Jake gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I was there, remember? When we found out." Yeah. When they had phased and couldn't calm down until morning. It had been a long night. "Do you really think Phil would let that happen? Would you be able to keep it together long enough for it to happen?"

Sam swallowed. "I don't know."

Jake patted Sam on the shoulder. "You need to get to patrols. I'll stay here until my shift for Seth. And we'll talk more then."

"I don't want her here alone," Sam said quietly. "Who's got the night free?"

"No one that can stay. I can call Kim."

Sam hesitated before giving a nod. "I'll call her. You make yourself comfy."

Kim was easy to reach, as she always answered any phone call she got from Sam, no matter what she was in the middle of. "Currently driving home, Sam, what's up?"

"I have a huge favor to ask."

Sam could practically hear her smirk as he gently shut the bedroom door behind him, leaving a sleeping Bella inside. "Does this have to do with Bella?"

"Bella fell asleep, but I have patrols in fifteen minutes. She's been getting sick at night, and… I'd feel a lot better if I didn't leave her alone."

"Is she staying the night?"

"Chief Swan didn't want to wake her either."

Kim sighed. "Fine. But you owe me. You do dishes for the pack for the next week."

"Done," Sam said immediately. "Thank you, Kim."

"What time do you get off of patrols?"

"Around five or six."

"Dibs on your room then."

"That's where Bella is-"

"We'll share. See you in five."

He was hung up on. Sam ran a hand through his hair before sliding his cell into his pocket. Jake was lounging on the couch, a new movie popped in. "Kim's on her way. I'm heading out."

Jake shrugged. "Have fun."

Sam stared at him for a minute. "You do realize that your life is going to suck because you crashed tonight?"

Jake shrugged. "She may not act traumatized but I guarantee that she is traumatized. Just wanted to make sure the movie didn't turn into…" Jake wiggled his eyebrows as he looked at Sam. "A movie."

"It wasn't going to. I recognize that, you know-"

"She's my big sister, but she's really like my little sister," Jake said firmly. "And when we get the chance to tear Phil apart, I'm not going to hesitate. But that doesn't mean she can date like normal, either."

"I know that-"

"So I'm making sure nothing goes too fast. You'll appreciate it in the long run." Sam had half a mind to tell him that he had no intentions of doing anything with Bella until she explicitly stated that she was ready for it, but decided that Jake wasn't going to listen to it anyway. So, Sam just nodded.

"See you in a few hours."

"Have fun."

Sam intended to have as much fun as he could, without jeopardizing the tribe or his person. And to ignore the fact that Phil Dwyer was still breathing. Yes, he would be having a lot of fun. He was sure of it.

Bella jerked awake at the screeching noise of the alarm clock, and the covers tugged at her person as she blinked rapidly in the dark room. She had no idea where she was. Her clothing was stiff, scratchy, and from the night before, but the bed was much softer than the one she had in her bedroom.

She was definitely not in her room. Or at Charlie's house, for that matter.

"Jesus Christ, turn that thing off," a voice grumbled from beside her. Bella jerked away and squinted into the dark light to see that it was a woman, Bella's age, and…

"Kim?" Bella asked. "What the hell?"

"Don't worry, we didn't drink and get freaky. Just turn the alarm off." Bella pressed the power button and clutched her head for a minute before she looked around the room. She recognized it, once she realized it was the opposite of what she had seen a few weeks ago.

"What am I doing in Sam's room?" There was a little bit of panic rising in her and Kim groaned, flipping over and tugging the blanket towards her.

"You fell asleep during the movie and no one wanted to wake you up. Sam didn't want to leave you alone if you got sick, and I got roped into this." Bella frowned slightly. "So, he set the alarm so you wouldn't be late for classes."

Bella glanced around the room before she moved towards the window, opening it just enough to see outside. It was just turning dawn and there was rain softly pelting down on the trees. She could see the beach from here, and the waves crashing against the cliffs. It really was a gorgeous view. Sam's truck was in the driveway, beside her own and Kim's car. "Why are we in here, though? If Sam's home?"

"He had patrols until six. I'd like to enjoy sleeping for a few minutes more before Sam kicks me out," Kim grumbled.

"Sorry," Bella muttered. She stood from the bed, and Kim snatched the rest of the blankets, before Bella spotted her phone on the nightstand, with her water. Bella took them, checking the messages quickly, to see that her class had been canceled for the day. Bella groaned. "Class is canceled, Kim, move over."

Kim just moved her leg, giving Bella space, and Bella slid back into the covers, turning into the pillow and covering her head. Bella could almost hear the waves if she concentrated hard enough. And then Kim let out an awful snore, cutting away that fantasy. Bella shoved a kick into the girl. "Stop snoring." And Kim did, just long enough for Bella to fall asleep, too.

When she woke up the second time, it wasn't in such a good mood, and the nausea was almost overwhelming. "Oh, no," Bella murmured, and she slid out of bed, into the hall, where she knew the bathroom was, and nearly collapsed by the toilet as she puked. Ugh….

"Bella?" Bella squeezed her eyes shut as the bathroom light flicked on. "You okay?"

"Fine," Bella murmured. "Too bright."

"Oh, sorry." She flushed the toilet and glanced in the door to find Kim, looking dreadful and dead on her feet, but biting her lip in worry. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good. If I just sit here for a minute, it should pass."

Kim hesitated. "I can wake Sam up? He's on the couch."

"No, he's probably exhausted." Bella sat there for only a minute more before she stood, washing her face off with a few splashes of water, and then she gave Kim an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that."

"You can't help it," Kim shrugged. "Nice way to wake up, isn't it?"

"The greatest," Bella muttered dryly. "I'm tired. You want to go back to bed?"

"A hot chick in bed with me?" Kim gave her a teasing grin. "Wait until Jared hears about this." Bella laughed quietly, but when she made it back to Sam's room, snuggled up in the covers, flipping the pillow over so that she was laying on the cool side, and given a nice waft of Sam's scent. She went to sleep nearly immediately.

Bella waited until it was near eleven to really worry about getting presentable. Moving into the living room, she noticed Sam laying uncomfortably on the couch, one leg hanging off the side, much too long for the three seater. And the other leg was curled underneath him. In addition, a pillow was shoved under Sam's head, resting between his shoulder and cheek, while his arms were haphazard about him.

He looked like he had stumbled there and passed out. Bella glanced to Kim, who was brushing her teeth and staring at the man as well.

"If he's anything like Jared, he'll wake up around three this afternoon."

"He's having dinner at my place tonight. Charlie wants to meet him, officially." Kim spat out in the bathroom before she came back with a response.

"And you stayed at his house the night before. Shit, Bella, do you want Charlie to hate him?"

Bella winced. "I didn't mean to stay over. Jake crashed the date."

"Yeah, he and I watched a few movies last night before he had patrols and I went to bed. You don't stop shifting in your sleep, by the way. It's annoying."

"Sorry, I didn't know I was going to have someone in the same bed as me." Bella stared at Sam. "Shouldn't we go? Let him sleep?"

"He'll be out. Don't worry about that. I could blare music at full volume and Jared still wouldn't wake up unless there was a howl." It made Bella feel better that she wasn't whispering, at least. Sam didn't even stir. Just breathed deeply and remained as still as a statue. It was weird.

She had never seen him look so entirely at peace. "Are you hungry?" Kim interrupted Bella's staring.

Bella immediately flushed. "Yeah. I could use some toast. I'll make it. What are you up to?"

"Whatever we've got in there." And so they set to work making their breakfasts, or rather lunch, and talked quietly about anything pack related. "Jared's been working extra hard lately," Kim admitted. "Some extra patrols here and there."

"Is everything okay?" Bella asked, worried. She always worried when things changed, because it usually meant vampires. "There isn't any vampires or anything, right?"

Kim shook her head. "He just told me that it's because of the boys in school needing time for homework. Those that have graduated take on their patrols." Bella frowned. "Since a lot of the younger kids are changing, Sam's keeping them from patrols. They're just on basic duties, like making sure they get good grades and keep their temper in check."

Bella still frowned, though. "Oh. I guess that explains why Sam's so exhausted."

"Word has it that he's even taking less shifts at the firehouse so that he can cram more patrols in. He's crazy, I'm telling you. No one loves patroling more than Sam - no one has more patrols than Sam."

"He's a good leader," Bella said quietly. Kim nodded in agreement, glancing towards the sleeping man. "He works too hard, though."

"He wants to keep the reservation safe. After Harry… well, he won't let that happen again."

Harry. He was all Bella's fault in the first place. Victoria had been chasing her, and Harry had been out with Charlie trying to find the wolves that were being reported, to keep Charlie from finding anything of substantial evidence. "He's great, though," Bella admitted. "He's taking everything… really well. When I was sick the other day, he… I mean, it was… unexpected. He's just so nice."

Kim gave Bella a smile. "He's Sam. He's probably the greatest guy in the world. Sometimes I think he's better than Jared at keeping his cool and figuring things out. He has an answer, he listens to whoever has a problem, and he doesn't turn anyone away. This place is a home for everyone that needs it. Paul, if he doesn't want to go home some nights. Jake if he and his dad have a fight. Seth or Leah when they get upset about Harry or with Sue. I know Embry stays here when he's upset. The younger boys use it as a study corner some days of the week. This is the pack home, and Sam doesn't mind a bit. It's… really comforting."

"I guess I'm really lucky the imprint gods chose me," Bella admitted quietly. "Just not really lucky in general."

Kim smiled sympathetically before standing and taking both empty plates, sticking them in the dishwasher. She turned, then, and sat once more with Bella. "How are you, though? Really?"

"Sick in the mornings and at night. Already losing sleep. My classes are incredibly stressful. And my feet already hurt, and I haven't even gained any weight. The idea of having any baby is terrifying, and I don't even know if I can do this. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to visit my mom for Christmas, and how I'm going to hide all of this from her. She usually can see right through everything."

"Except for Phil."

Bella hesitated. "Yeah, well, they say love blinds you." She snorted, giving a light shrug. "I don't know. She'll know something's up with me though, if I show up there with a bit of a weight gain." Bella gave Kim a tired smile. "I feel like I've slept four days, but I also feel like I haven't slept in weeks."

"At least you've got a hot werewolf to dream about now," Kim winked.

Bella wrinkled her nose. "What do you guys see in Paul? Seriously."

Kim laughed and leaned back in her chair. "We all worry about you, most of all Sam, Jake and Paul." Bella frowned. "Sam freaks out over everything. Jake is being your overprotective big brother that wants to kick Sam's ass. And Paul is being the brother that couldn't care less, but also wants to make sure you don't get fucked around with."

Yeah, well Paul was an ass. "Sam freaks out over a scratch on my arm." Bella lifted the sleeve to show Kim the thin pink line. "When he saw it wasn't scabbing, but instead looked like a scar, he looked like he was going to faint."

"It's ingrained in them that hurting their imprint is the worst thing they could ever do," Kim said quietly. "Just running into Jared's foot, or tripping over him, sends him into a fit of apologies and desperate pleas for me to forgive him. It's annoying, yeah, but… it's sweet sometimes." Bella doubted that. It was mostly annoying. Especially when the first aid kit came out. But she wouldn't deny that him concentrating on patching her up was cute. "Their instincts forbid that they hurt us, really. We are their most important thing to protect, not that we're a thing or anything, but just compared to the reservation, we're more important to them."

"Even if vampires were attacking?"

"I've already made Jared promise me that he'd protect the reservation first if it came to vampires attacking. He threw a fit for a few weeks, but finally agreed." Bella would have to make Sam promise the same thing. Vampires usually followed her, and she didn't want to get anyone killed again. "There are four of us. We have to look out for one another, not have the wolves worry about us. The wolves are the only things that can stop them. We certainly can't." Bella agreed to that. "By telling you about the imprint, Sam is ready to lay down his life protecting you, just as he would be for protecting the tribe." Bella swallowed. "And if that's against Phil or the Cullens, or whoever, he will."

"I just feel like…" Bella gave a heavy sigh. "Sometimes I feel like Sam gets a bit lost in his instincts when it comes to protecting me, I guess. The med kit, first of all? When I told him I was vomiting, he was practically speeding to get to my house. I'm so grateful for his attentiveness, but… you know?"

"Don't ever get the flu," Kim warned. "Jared wouldn't leave my side for two days. They don't get sick because of their immune systems, but Jesus Christ, I couldn't even pee in private." Bella giggled. "I can't imagine what Sam will be like when you're further along."

"Ugh… a nightmare, probably. I have a feeling a talk about boundaries is going to be occurring later. Mostly about when I don't need him hovering. Edward hovered." Bella grimaced. "I don't like it, believe me."

"And Sam definitely doesn't want to remind you of Edward."

"Good," Bella giggled. "Because I like Sam as Sam."

Kim glanced towards Sam, still asleep. "Well, it's a good thing he's Sam, then."

Yeah. Bella followed her gaze, and gave a small smile as he took a deep breath, his shoulders rising, before he exhaled, and his body seemed to get closer to the couch all at once. He didn't have a blanket, but she remembered what he had said the other day about his body temperature making it so that he couldn't even sit in the car without air conditioning on. He couldn't have been cold. "Charlie's going to kill me for staying over."

Kim patted Bella's hand. "It was nice knowing you." Bella just groaned in despair and dropped her head into her arms, sighing. "I'll let Jake know he's Alpha once Sam goes missing, too." Oh, that too… Charlie was going to be a nightmare, there was no denying. She just had to warm him up first. His favorite meal, and maybe it wouldn't be so bad.


	11. Sucker

Bella left before Sam woke, writing a small note to thank him for the night, and tucked it under his elbow as he slept solidly. And she gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She’d call around five to make sure he was awake for dinner.

Managing to get to Charlie’s in record time, she started on dinner - everything Charlie loved. If she was going to make this as pleasant as possible after her rookie mistake last night, then it was going to be great. She didn’t want Charlie mad at her. 

It was five when she received a text message from Sam, wishing her a good afternoon, and that he’d be there right on time. He was going to bring some of Sue’s famous desert, and the Indian woman herself, who had also been invited by Charlie. A whole family event. 

Nearly three minutes later, Charlie was home and she heard him hanging up his gun belt and take off his boots from the hall. “What is that smell, Bells? It smells like my favorite lasagna!”

She had just checked on it in the oven, so that was probably why. “Sure is. So, when was Sue invited? Because when I found out I had to switch it to the larger pan.” She hadn’t, really. She had already baked extra because of Sam’s bottomless stomach. But she was pleased to see Charlie flush.

“Thought it’d do some good. Sue told me I get… awkward over dinners with other people.” Bella raised an eyebrow, a grin on her face. “Thought I told you, Bells. Sorry.”

“No problem.” She moved towards the pan she was currently working on. Charlie attempted to stick his finger into the batter, but she smacked his hand away. “No way, I made it, I get first taste. Besides, the raw egg will make you sick.” He gave Bella a sigh. “Please be nice to Sam… He really means the world to me.” 

Charlie frowned, as if remembering what this big affair was all about. “I’ll just ignore the fact that you slept over at his house? And that he has his own house?” 

Bella rolled her eyes. “Jake was there. Why don’t you ask him what happened? I didn’t even make it to the opening credits before I passed out. And Kim stayed with me at the house so that I wasn’t alone while Sam had to tend to an emergency on the reservation. Something about a noisy party or a campfire spotted in the woods - which is against the law. You can only have bonfires on the beach or with tribe permission.”

Charlie glowered. “I still want to just scare the boy a little. Let him know he can’t be getting too carried away with you. He is older.”

“Sam’s amazing, dad,” Bella insisted. “I don’t want to have him scared away.” 

“If he can’t take an old man grumbling about him, then he shouldn’t be dating my little girl. That’s my job description, try to scare away the men that go after her, and make sure no one has anything but good intentions.” Bella just rolled her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. When you have kids, you’ll see how it is. You’d do whatever you could to make sure they were safe.”

The doorbell rang at six on the dot, and Bella threw her oven mitts down before rushing to the door. Charlie was on the steps, having changed out of his uniform, and Bella flung open the door. A wide grin lit up her face as she saw Sam and the small woman, Sue. “Hey!” 

“Hey,” Sam greeted.

“Oh, Bella, you look nice,” Sue smiled. “Is your father in there, or is he glaring at the tv?”

“He was, until I told him to change out of his uniform,” Bella laughed, hugging the woman. And she was let inside, before Bella gave Sam a shy smile. “Well? Do I get a hug?” 

He gave her a tight hug, but it was extremely quick, and he pulled away with a kiss to her cheek. “Sorry I wasn’t awake when you left. I ended up running a bit more than usual, and-“

“It’s fine,” Bella said with a warm smile. “Come on in.” She shut the door, letting Sam take off his jacket before she pulled him into the kitchen, where she could hear Charlie talking to Sue. Abruptly the voices stopped as Charlie spotted Sam. He looked him over, as if seeing if Sam had changed in anyway, before he gave a satisfied nod. 

“Chief Swan,” Sam greeted. “It’s nice to meet you officially, sir.” 

Charlie grunted, taking Sam’s hand, pulling him close for a pat on the back. But Sam’s posture stiffened suddenly, and when he pulled away, she saw Sam give Charlie a nod of understanding. Ohhh… kay?

Following that exchange, despite Sam sitting beside her at the table, he was nearly as far away from her on the chair as he could get. And his hand, though laced with hers, would flex its grip every time Charlie glanced towards them.

“So, Sam, what is it you do?”

“I’m a firefighter, Chief,” Sam answered with a winning smile. Bella brought her own smile towards Charlie, encouraging him to be friendly. “And in my spare time, I do some police work on the res, too. And whatever time between those two, I’m the Chief of the reservation.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow in surprise, giving Bella a considering look. She shot him a warning look. “Huh… Doesn’t seem like you have a lot of time on your hands.”

“Not all the time, no. But it’s rewarding, so I keep doing it.”

“You seem to be taking the news about Bella pretty well.”

“Dad,” Bella warned quietly, but Charlie continued.

“If you barely have time now, what makes you think that’s going to change when there’s a baby around?”

Bella’s glare was meant to be menacing, but Charlie ignored it.

“I plan to take as much time out of my work schedule for both Bella and the baby. If she needs me around, I’ll be there. I have no plans of skipping out on her.” Charlie narrowed his eyes. “And before you ask, sir, no I don’t have experience with children.” He gave a slow nod, but Sam quickly continued. “Except for Leah’s cousin, Claire. She’s about three. She hangs out with Leah when she comes down from Makah and I’ve had to babysit a few times.” Charlie grunted. “I can change a diaper no problem.”

“Do you think you’ll be around long enough to change diapers?”

“I hope Bella keeps me around that long, maybe longer. But that’s not my call.” But she heard the nervous waver in Sam’s voice and felt herself flush slightly, as she glanced to Sue, who was giving her a hopeless smile. As if to tell Bella to just hang in there, dinner would be over soon.

Charlie seemed pleased with that and dug his knife into his food, a bit more forcefully than necessary. “The last boy that came into this home broke her heart and left her in the woods. The next pitiful excuse of a man in her life abused and left her pregnant and we can’t tell a soul about it until we get a good idea on how to get the bastard for it. What makes you different?”

Sam was shaking slightly, but Bella ran her thumb over his knuckles and he calmed down enough to answer. And she was pretty sure she melted with it. “I want to be able to tell you that I won’t break her heart, sir. I want to be able to promise that I’ll keep her happy. But I can’t. I can just promise that I’ll try my absolute best to do so. Even if it kills me, I’ll keep her safe. And her baby. And I’ll do whatever I can to put that bastard in jail for the rest of his life. I can only keep her happy as long as she is happy.”

It was the sweetest thing Bella had ever heard him say. But she knew that he was telling the truth. Sam would never do anything to make her angry with him or upset. The imprint made it that way. He could never hurt her. 

“Good man.”

“Charlie, stop it,” Sue said quietly. “You’re going to upset Bella.” But Bella wasn’t upset by the interrogation. She was moved by Sam’s words. She did her best to give Charlie a reassuring smile, but the man seemed to wince.

“Sorry, Bells.”

“I’m fine, Dad.”

Sam glanced to Bella and she darted her eyes to the hall quickly, a sign he should give her a minute with Charlie. “Excuse me, I’m going to head to the bathroom.”

“First door on the right,” Bella supplied easily. Charlie eyed him wearily, but Sam rose out of his chair, kissing Bella’s head on his way to do so, and she gave her boyfriend a warm smile. As soon as the door shut, Bella turned to Charlie, glaring at him. “What did you say to him?”

“Nothing,” Charlie said innocently. Too innocently, Bella decided as he reached for his beer quickly. “I think he’s just terrified of me. Good to know I still install the fear of God into people. I thought I had lost it with the last one you brought home-“

“Charlie,” Sue sighed.

“Terrified?” Bella whispered in outrage. “He barely even looks at me, because to me, it looks like he thinks you’re going to shoot him!”

“Good,” Charlie said shortly. “Then my message sunk in.”

“Dad!”

“What? I’m just making sure! He’s older than you by six years, Bella-“

Bella groaned, her head falling into her hands. “You broke him.”

“Broke him?”

“The point of bringing him over for dinner was so you could meet Sam, you know? Get to know the real Sam, not the skittish Sam that thinks you’re going to pull a gun on him in the middle of the pie.”

Charlie perked up. “There’s pie?”

“Charlie,” Bella whined. “Please, just… I really like Sam. I really do see us together in the long run… And despite everything, I think he’s able to see it too. And… I don’t want to scare him away. Please just back off of him a little. He’s really a great guy. Just give him a chance to prove it.”

Charlie sighed. “Fine. I’ll back off. But if he holds you anywhere inappropriate-“

“Dad, he’s not going to grope me in the middle of the kitchen. I mean, give him a little credit.” Charlie looked a little green with the image. The toilet flushed, but Bella rushed out the last few words before the door to the bathroom opened. “He wants to take down Phil just as much as you do, and he wants the best for me too. Just give him a chance.”

Charlie reluctantly agreed to do so. It seemed to be opportune timing because Sam came striding out of the hall. And Bella had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She knew he could hear every word they were saying. He didn’t have to look so smug about it. “We were talking about you while you were gone,” Bella spoke up casually as Sam sat down. “Charlie thinks you’re a bad influence.”

Charlie nearly choked on his beer and Bella grinned towards her dad to let him know she was just joking. “Now, I never said that.”

“That’s okay, Chief. I know it’ll take a lot for you to trust me,” Sam said easily. “But it’s time I’m willing to spend.”

“You don’t just date my daughter, and expect me to trust you. You have to earn it, son.”

But Bella knew that Charlie loved Sam. Practically talked about him once a week when it came to something he did for the Police Department in Forks. “Just keep her happy, and we’ll work on it from there.”

Bella’s hand found Sam’s and she gave her dad and his girlfriend an easy smile. “You’re lucky I’m not turning the tables and giving this talk to Sue. It reminds me that I haven’t had a proper one with her yet.”

Sue laughed. “Now, don’t go dragging me into this. I’m just here to make sure Charlie doesn’t actually pull his gun on him. And for the pie.”

“I think you’re all here for the pie.”

“Which means you should probably start making it more.”

Bella snorted as she rose to go get the dessert. “I don’t think your belt loops would be able to take it, Charlie.” Charlie snorted, and Sue seemed to agree. 

The rest of dinner seemed to go well, with Sam relaxing and allowing himself to be a little more open for affection. It was nearly ten thirty when Sam said he had to go. Bella knew he had patrols soon, and so Sue hopped up as well. “He’s my ride,” she said to Charlie. After giving Charlie a sweet kiss, that made Bella more want to go “aww” out of spite than gag, Bella chewed on her lip as she looked up at Sam’s towering form. But Sue was pulled into a discussion as her dad grumbled about something, leaving Bella and Sam all to themselves. 

She kissed him softly, murmuring just loud enough for only Sam to hear. “I definitely don’t like you wearing shirts.”

“I didn’t think showing up without a shirt would go over too well.”

She fiddled with the collar slightly, flushing. No, Charlie would have had an aneurysm. “Please, please tell me that I get to see you soon.”

Sam grinned. “Patrols at the usual time tomorrow, if you feel like showing up.”

Bella found herself grinning back. “I guess I could make it.” But then she groaned. “That means I can finally sleep in. This is going to be a dream.”

Sam chuckled, kissing her again. This time it wasn’t as chaste as before, but instead warm and made Bella feel a little flushed as a throat cleared behind them. “Don’t run into any bad guys out there.”

“Never,” Sam grinned. But Bella caught the slightly worried grimace he gave. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean. But maybe he was just worried. It was perfectly justifiable to be worried. Even though Laurent was taken care of, Victoria hadn’t shown up in a long time. And that made Bella all the more on edge. In Florida, she had been a wreck worrying that Victoria would find her with no wolves to protect her.

But he gave her one last kiss, before he dug in his pocket for his keys. “Thanks for having me over for dinner, Charlie.”

“Thanks for watching the game with me,” Charlie countered, his mustache still twitching like it was a live animal. “Probably the only time I’ll ever get Bella to watch sports with me is when you’re around.”

“I don’t watch any sports I can’t do myself,” Bella returned with a laugh. “Unless it’s the Seahawks. I’ve watched enough of that with you to understand what is going on.”

“You like the Seahawks?” Sam asked in surprise. 

Bella shrugged. “Sure. Probably the only thing I actually watch. I would watch it in Florida all the time. I liked to see Washington.” 

Sam still seemed surprised. But Charlie just rolled his eyes. “Right then, best get home before it gets too late. Nice meeting you, Sam.”

“You too, Chief,” Sam returned easily. Once Sam and Sue had pulled out of the driveway, a final wave falling from Bella’s hands, she glanced towards Charlie.

“Well?” she asked.

Charlie sighed. “Fine, he’s alright. Brought us a guy we had been looking for that broke parole last week. If he can find some guy in the middle of the woods, I guess he can keep my daughter safe.” 

Bella gave Charlie a warm smile, hugging him tightly. “Only when you’re at work can he keep me safe,” she said quietly. “You can do it any other time.”

He was blushing, she could tell, and seemed to be warmed by her words. “Yeah, well, best get to bed.”

But that wasn’t what was going to happen. Because just as soon as she pulled away from him, did she catch the scent of the rainy outdoors. And it made her nauseas nearly instantly. She bolted, and barely made it to the kitchen sink. 

“Well, there goes my pie,” Bella sighed quietly. She groaned and rested her head on her hands, leaning over the counter.

“Bells?”

“I’m okay,” Bella insisted. “Just… there was like wet tree smell or something outside. And it made me feel sick. I’m fine.” She started to run the water in the sink, however, to wash out the mess. “It happened this morning too.”

“It did?”

“Kim almost called the doctor, but I told her it was normal,” Bella said with a snort. She wiped off her face and turned to Charlie. “I called yesterday morning. She said that it’ll be normal for a few more weeks.” Charlie’s mouth twisted up as he seemed to consider it a moment, worried. “Really, dad, I’m fine.”

He sighed. “What did Sam do when he found you throwing up in his bathroom?”

Bella hesitated. “Um… well, he wasn’t home, so… Kim was just there.” It was a small lie. She hadn’t seen him, but apparently he was home because Kim had offered to wake her… but Charlie didn’t need to know that. “He works a lot.”

Charlie sighed. “You know, Bells… that was a problem with your mom and I, too. She was home with you, who was a baby, and I was always working… You may not realize how much time having a baby takes, but… Sam works an awful lot, and you may not think you need him around that often, but you will.” Bella swallowed. “And even if you won’t work out, I won’t be home all the time to help you, either.”

“I know,” Bella sighed. 

“I know tonight was probably stressful… but what will happen if Sam’s not around? What will happen if you don’t have someone to help you? I’ll do everything I can, Bells, you know I will, and I know Sue and Jake and all of your friends say they’re going to help - and Sue and Jake probably will - but this boy has no obligation to help you out with this. A baby is a big, big responsibility. And you two just started dating.”

Bella knew. She could feel the tears coming. “I really have no idea, dad,” Bella admitted. “I… Mrs. Newton gave me my job back at Newton’s Outfitters, but … I have absolutely no money saved up for any of this either. If it wasn’t for you and Renee saving stuff up for college, I wouldn’t even be able to go to school. I blew everything I had on moving back out to Florida and…” Bella hauled herself up on the counter and Charlie shifted uncomfortably as he noticed her tears. “We have no room here for a baby either. I mean, maybe for when the baby’s just born, but once they start getting big enough to move around and everything… I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know what to do for anything. Leah said I could live with her, but there’s no way I could afford to pay rent right now. And I can’t live here forever. I love you, but you have a life, too. And Sam - I can’t rely on Sam because Sam has a job and the guys and everything. I can’t… I haven’t even thought that far ahead yet. I can’t do school, a job or two, and take care of a baby-“

Charlie winced, “Bells… I wasn’t saying that you had to… I’m just saying that it’s a lot of work. And … I want to make sure you understand that-“

“I know,” Bella insisted. “I know it’s a lot of work. Renee is practically a baby that I raised from the age of ten. And… I haven’t even thought past Thanksgiving. I just know that I want to cook for Thanksgiving. That’s all I can even focus on right now. And I don’t know…I don’t know what to do for Christmas, or … or past that. I’m so scared that everything is going to be a mess. That I’ll mess up everything. That this baby will have just a messed up life growing up as I did living with Renee. I don’t want to be a single parent. I don’t think I could do it. And I can’t rely on any help from Renee either because… because she still lives with him. And I can’t rely on anything from you, because you have a really important job. And so does Sam. And … Sam may not even want to be with me by the end of all of this. He may decide it’s too much work and bot. And I honestly have no idea if I can even do this.”

“Maybe… maybe we could make it work?” Charlie offered. “I could …” He swallowed. He didn’t even know, and Bella knew it. He was just grasping at straws. “While you’re at school, I could stay home. And then take a night shift at the station. I hear the donuts are better then.” Bella felt herself smile at Charlie’s lame attempt at humor. She definitely got it from him. “And you can stay here, Bells, you always can, I… I’m sorry if you didn’t think that you could-“

“I can’t make you do that, Dad,” Bella said quietly. “You can’t do that to work. That’s… I can work on something. I just.. I just need to think about it, I think. Work on something other than this coasting that I’m doing-“

“We’re always here to help, Bells,” Charlie promised. “We will help. Me, Billy, Sue… You have Leah, too.”

“Jake, Sam… Yeah,” Bella said quietly. She took a deep breath. “I’ll figure something out. I just need to figure out Christmas. That’s what I’m really worried about right now.”

Charlie sighed. “Yeah… We’ll figure it out, Bells.” She hoped so. She just needed to figure out Christmas, and then maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about Phil ever again. If she could somehow get Renee away from Phil, then they could expose Phil.

But she had no idea on how to do that. That meant that she’d probably had to go to Florida anyway. Just the thought made her sick and break out in a sweat. Charlie gave her a concerned look, seeing how she looked a little green. “I … I might take a bath, dad.” Bella attempted to give him a smile. “If that’s okay?”

“Sure thing, kiddo. Just get feeling better. Everything else will be fine.”

She hoped so… But as she pushed herself off the counter, she gave Charlie a small smile. “But you like Sam?” For some reason, it was super important to her. For some reason, Charlie liking Sam meant a lot. Because with the imprint, well… Sam was pretty permanent. And even if they could break up and just be friends, even if he got attacked and died one day… heaven forbid… well, she wanted a future with Sam in it. Sam was safe. Sam was… well, he was already home to her. Sam was hers. Someone that couldn’t break her heart, no matter how hard things got, because he was devoted to her. And she was wary, but already a hundred percent into him. 

Charlie, however, just sighed, an insufferable sigh. “Yeah, he’s a good kid, Bells. And maybe things’ll be hard with a baby, maybe he won’t stick around, maybe he will, but what I saw tonight was that he made you happy. Happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.” Bella swallowed. She knew that he was talking about the depression she had gotten when Edward had left. The months she spent waiting for him to come back. “Just be careful. He’s still a man, and a man only wants one thing.” 

Bella quirked her lips. “Pie?”

Charlie chuckled. “Sure, Bells. Pie. We can always go for more pie.” She laughed quietly, kissing his cheek as she passed him. 

“Night, dad!”

“Night, kiddo.” She was halfway up the stairs when she heard Charlie say, almost to himself. “Happier than a damn bumblebee.” Bella smiled to herself. Yeah… she felt pretty happy, compared to the last few months. Pretty happy compared to the last few years. 

She had slept in for so long that she missed Charlie leaving for work, and so she just sighed as she stared at the ceiling, before grabbing the covers, hoisting them over her head and snuggling deeper into the warm bed. It was warm. But it was no where near as soft as Sam’s had been. In fact, it was nothing compared to that bed. That bed had something that no bed in the world had - his scent. A faint woodsy scent, and the scent of … well, man. 

She heard her phone buzz on the nightstand and ducked her arm out, not wanting to escape the warmth completely, before she slid it under the covers. The name on the screen made the covers feel much warmer than they were. Sam.

_Sorry if you’re not awake. But, if you are, want to get lunch?_ Bella checked the time, seeing that it was just half past ten. She chewed on her lip. She could do it. Shower, find something presentable, and then meet him somewhere. 

She pressed reply. _I’m always a sucker for food I don’t have to cook. Sure. Where and when?_

Sam’s reply was nearly immediate. _Sue’s or Forks Diner?_ Someplace simple, someplace casual. Bella seriously loved this man. 

_Sue’s is fine._

_Say… an hour?_

She’d have to get ready fast. _I’ll be there._

And then she took one last warm breath under the covers, before she flipped them off of her and slid out of bed to get ready.  


End file.
